How To Bee A Queen
by theonewhosawitall
Summary: Months after Marientte bonded with her Chat, the kwamis got together and agreed it was time for new additions to the group. Rena Rouge and Carapace. Or Alya and Nino as they are otherwise known. Chloe was not impressed. Not until Rena died to save her teddy that is. Chloe made a solemn vow that day, to be a better person. One worthy of Rena's memory. The kwamis are impressed.
1. Chapter 1

Ladybug and Chat Noir surveyed the damage from the building tops nearby, while Rena Rouge flew in for a closer look. She had the chance to get in close and count how many of their classmates were still in the building. Carapace was trying to keep track of where the akuma was in the city now, but it was difficult. They wouldn't stop moving. Rena landed beside him, flawlessly. On reflex he reached out to stop her falling. He felt his hand on her waist, and blushed, but she didn't push him away.

"Four are still there. Kim, Rose, Chloe and Max. Juleka and Alix were downstairs, I just got them out, but the others are upstairs, and the stairs are just bricks," she explained.

"Right, so we evacuated from the second floor up," Ladybug declared.

"Fifth. Floors one to five are rigged with explosives, and empty," Rena corrected.

"You didn't feel the need to mention the bombs?" Carapace said, his voice edged with nerve.

He was their newest recruit and didn't take to it as easily as Rena had. Ladybug tried telling him that she had been like that and it was Chat who helped her, so he should try to listen to Rena, but Rena was still a little too cock sure. Half a year working beside Ladybug had boosted both her and Ladybug's confidence. Not that hers needed much elevating. Her eyes sparkled as she reached out to tap Carapace's nose.

"Must have slipped my mind." The truth was she didn't want him to worry. That turtle didn't need to be any slower. "There's at least ten minutes left before it goes, we can get everyone out in plenty of time."

"Lead the way," Ladybug said.

They followed her in through a window on the fifth floor. She was right. Inside was practically rubble. The ceiling was in lumps on the floor, and they could see the next two floors above them. Rose, Kim and Max were huddled together one floor up. The only exit was here. Every other window was nailed shut. They needed to get everyone out of it and to safety in the next ten minutes.

Carapace gave a low whistle. "Who caused this?" He asked, more to himself than to the others.

Ladybug spotted Chloe huddled in the corner alone, and huffed, "I've got a pretty good idea."

"We don't know it was Chloe!" Chat Noir argued, defensively.

"Probably was though," Rena muttered.

"Not helpful Rena," Carapace said.

Rena shrugged. "I'm just saying, the bugs probably right."

"Thanks, foxy," Ladybug grinned.

"I got your back girl," Rena winked.

Ladybug laughed. Chat frowned, pretending to be more hurt than he actually was by the way Ladybugs attentions were going.

"So when she flirts its ok, but when I do it, it's distracting?"

"Shh Chat, you're distracting me," Ladybug shushed.

Chat blabbed with offence for a moment, before catching her hidden smirk. His shoulders sagged at the relief and embarrassment that she had gotten him back. As soon as they got everyone out, this was going to be a piece of cake.

"Chloe, is this everyone?" Ladybug called.

Chloe huffed, "How should I know?!"

"How many staff are here?" Carapace asked.

"Just one. The akuma!" Kim called.

"What are you lot doing here then?" Chat Noir asked.

"The safety inspector brought us in, he said the mayor said it was ok!" Rose called.

"I bet he did," Ladybug muttered.

Chat shot her a look. He knew Marinette didn't much like Chloe, but she shouldn't have kept allowing it to sway her opinion as Ladybug. And Alya - and Rena Rouge - shouldn't keep encouraging her. Or maybe it was the other way around. Rena had only been with them half a year, maybe Ladybug was still showing her the ropes.

"Where's he now?" Carapace called.

"The akuma took him," Max said.

Chat grinned. The akuma took the safety inspector! He grinned at Ladybug. "I told you Chloe didn't cause the akuma this time!"

Ladybug huffed and muttered, "This time."

"This whole place is gonna blow any minute," Rena warned.

"Let's get going then," Ladybug said, "Chat you're strongest, take Kim, Carapace get Rose, I'll take Max, Rena, you get Chloe."

"Delightful," Rena tutted.

"We aren't leaving Chloe!" Ladybug warned.

"I never suggested we should!" Rena argued. Then, after Ladybug was already spinning her yo-yo, muttered, "Although..."

Chloe stood up when she heard a hero land on her floor, flinging her hand over her head and crying dramatically that she was saved. Rena rolled her eyes. Then she noticed the teddy bear Chloe was clutching. She smirked.

"Cute toy."

"Oh, it's _you_. I want a _real_ hero, where's Ladybug?!" Chloe huffed.

"Listen, I'm not thrilled either, but we're in enough trouble as it is, so let's not be too egotistical about who has to save you," Rena tutted.

"Who _gets_ to save me! I'm the mayor's daughter, it's an honour to save me!" Chloe argued.

"Oh please! You're a brat kid who got her friends - if they are your friends - trapped up here with bombs about to go off downstairs! It's not an honour, it's a chore. A repetitive one," Rena spat.

"How dare you?! I would rather die than be saved by you!" Chloe huffed.

Rena grit her teeth. "That can be arranged."

When Ladybug landed beside Kim, she immediately saw the problem. Kim was trapped behind a piece of the fallen that had trapped Max's arm underneath it.

"Chat, I need you!" She called.

"At once my lady!" He said, obediently.

Chat appeared seconds later, baton in hand. Ladybug's eyes closed on that first. She pointed to the bottom of the rock.

"Put the baton there and lever the rock. I'll pull Max out to safety. Be careful not to hurt Kim too," she ordered.

Chat flashed Kim a smile. "Don't worry, I'll crumble it."

"Chat no!"

"Cataclysm!"

The rock turned black and crumbled apart into dust. Ladybug spun her yoyo as fast as possible to save Max from the debris falling from the ceiling that had been held up by the rock. She glared at Chat once they were safe, while Kim coughed violently.

"Well done, now we've got _five_ minutes to get everyone to safety!" She spat.

Chat gave a sheepish smile, "Oh yeah..."

Ladybug groaned. She loved her boyfriend but sometimes he forgot to think. "Our time just halved guys and Max is injured! We have to get him to safety first!"

"Rena is fastest! She can take him!" Chat said.

Rena was delighted to leave Chloe in the literal dust. "Copy that Chat!"

She down up to the same level as the others. The only person not having any trouble was Carapace. He had Rose in his arms, and she clung to his shell shield for safety.

"Ready to go, where are we taking them?" He asked.

"Um, Chat you take Rose to the roof top because you've only got a few minutes left, and recharge quick! There's still an akuma to catch,"

"As you wish," Chat nodded.

Rose felt like a pass the parcel as Carapace handed her to Chat. He flashed her the warmest smile he could, one that was so familiar it niggled at her.

"Don't worry, you're in good paws," he said.

"That you are, pretty flower. I won't let you down," Chat promised.

Rose giggled. She felt a lot safer already. Rena followed Chat, holding Max as carefully as she could, and over took Chat as soon as she realised where they were heading.

"Come on Kim, we reds have to stick together," Ladybug said.

"Hey! What about me?!" Chloe cried.

"Rena left Chloe? Oh that fox! Carapace, do you mind?" Ladybug asked. Kim was already clinging to her for dear life.

Carapace smiled. "Not at all."

"You?! I get _both_ brand knockoffs?!" Chloe scoffed.

"Don't worry Chloe, slow and steady wins the race," Carapace promised.

Chloe scowled. "Whoopee."

Carapace was already on his way out when he ran into Rena heading back towards the danger. Chloe was in his arms. She refused to hold the shield for safety, so it was back on his back. He paused to stop Rena.

"Everyone's out of there. Just in the nick of time too," he said.

"Alright, need a hand?" She asked.

"No thanks miss fox, you've been fantastic enough already," Carapace winked.

Rena felt a rush of guilt. She hadn't done anything. Or rather, she hadn't done anything fantastic. The akuma was only for ten minutes and the place was rigged with explosives, and she left Chloe to suffer that. That wasn't the hero's way.  
Then Chloe gagged.  
It had only been a small show of affection, a mere compliment, and Chloe gagged. Rena suddenly remembered why she left Chloe.

"I'll meet you back there," she said.

Rena shot on ahead. The others were already practically back at the safety zone. All the had left was Chloe, and she was behind her. At least she _was_ , until...

"MR CUDDLY!"

Rena glanced back at the cry. Chloe had dropped her teddy bear. Everyone else ignored it. It was just a teddy bear. Just a yellow dot falling back towards a danger zone. Rena was about to ignore it too, until she glanced back at Chloe. Chloe had never looked so pain stricken before. Rena felt it tug at her heart strings. Or it could have been the guilt again. Maybe she wasn't the nicest person in the world, or even in their class, but this was important to her. It mattered. And Rena was a hero. She had to help.  
Carapace gasped as Rena turned tail and dove straight back down towards the building that was rigged to blow.

"RENA!" He screamed.

Ladybug's attention flicked back, drawn by the fear in his tone. She spotted the orange blur shooting back towards the danger too. Her heart leapt into her throat.

"CHAT!" She cried.

Chat placed Rose on the rooftop gently and promised to be back, before leaping over to the next roof top where Ladybug stood beside Kim and Max.

"What's going on?" Chat asked.

Ladybug pointed out towards the building, past Chloe and Carapace, who had paused mid-air. "Rena! She's gone back to-"

 ** _BOOM_**!

A great plume of grey smoke burst through the air and the ground shook as the building exploded, tearing apart great chunks of concrete and metal and glass, and throwing them into the air.

"RENA!" Carapace and Ladybug screamed at the same time.

Ladybug ran forward, ready to fly into action to save her. Chat urgently grabbed hold of her, wrapping his arms around her middle and pulling her back. He struggled to get the yo-yo out of her hand, and threw it down at the roof top. It rolled towards the edge. Kim grabbed it by the string just before it fell, and pulled it back up.  
The building crumbled away. A chunk of brick came zooming past Carapace so fast he barely had time to turn around, so it hit his shell shield instead of Chloe.  
He was so far away too.  
Further away than Rena.  
She was swallowed by a cloud of dust too thick to see through.  
There was no way he could get in to save her. Not in time. Especially since Chole was still in his arms. He had to get her to safety. Carapace covered Chole's head with his shoulders and whisked her over to this roof top. He laid her on the roof, and turned to face Ladybug.  
He couldn't see her face properly. Her eyes were fixed on the spot where Rena had disappeared. Without her yoyo she was powerless to help her. Ladybug's eyes filled with tears she finally turned to face him. Carapace's head drooped. His heart was gone. It didn't hurt. He wasn't sad. He felt nothing. Just numb with fear. Ladybug leapt forward, and gathered him into her arms. They clung onto one another, too broken-hearted to make a sound.

Rena couldn't have escaped.

Leaving them to mourn, Chat focused on the civilians. He couldn't bear to even think about losing a friend. He'd never felt pain like it. Not since his mother left. He thought that would be the worst pain he could ever fill. Somehow this was worse. Rena had so much of her life ahead of her, now gone. His mother was still living hers somewhere. He couldn't think about it. Chat took Max and Chole to where Rose was, and went back for Kim. He used his staff as a fireman's pole, and let all of them slide straight down to the street, until Kim was left.

"I, err..." Kim stammered.

He wasn't very good with words, but he felt something had to be said. But what could you say? Nothing like this had ever happened before. It was a tragedy. Kim gave up. He held out the yo-yo sheepishly, and turned his head away. He said the only thing he could think of.

"I'm sorry."

Chat's ears were flat against his head. He took the yo-yo and blinked away the tears in his eyes. He remembered when his mother left. His father said just to thank everyone for their sympathy. Well Chat didn't have any other plan.

"Thank you."

"Anything I can..." Kim trailed off. He was just a kid? What could he do?

"You're a good man Kim. Just... remember her," Chat shrugged.

It sounded stupid. No one was going to forget the first hero of Paris to die saving them. At least they though she had died saving them. Chat's ring beeped for the final time on that roof. He was stranded there now. Just him and Plagg. Plagg didn't know what to say.

"Oh Adrien... I... I'm so sorry."

Adrien sniffed. "Can you feel her? Trixx, can you feel her?"

Plagg felt a stab of pain in his stomach. "Kwamis don't die Adrien. Not like that anyway."

"Then... then we have to find her. We have to get the necklace... even if Alya... Trixx will need us," Adrien bowed his head too.

Plagg's eyes brimmed with tears and he nodded. Sometimes Adrien really reminded him of Tikki. Adrien wiped his tears on his arm and sniffed hard.

"I know you're hungry, but I only have a little cheese. Will it be enough?" He asked.

"I'll make it work," Plagg nodded.

There was, after all, still an akuma to catch.

...

Only Chloe knew she had gone back for the bear. The shocked guilt in her chest kept her silence.  
Rena Rouge had died, saving her teddy bear...  
Chole felt numb. She walked home, slowly, in silence, away from the drama. Away from the crowds and the paramedics and the hero's flying off to continue the fight even after their loss. Paris's bravest they would be called on the news that night. So brave to keep fighting even after that.  
On her walk, Chloe thought of everything mean she had ever done, and how the reasons all seemed so stupid now. Guilt turned into a dull ache in her chest. The pain of losing Mr Cuddly was amplified higher than she ever imagined. It was almost insignificant now. It wasn't like she could kick up a fuss and have her daddy buy a new Rena Rouge. She was one of a kind. She was unique.  
She was... Miraculous.  
Chloe shut her bedroom door quietly. She hadn't realised where she was. It had been an automatic reaction to just walk into the hotel, and straight up to her room, ignoring the fact she was supposed to be in school. Chloe's hand lingered on the closed door. The ball in her throat was too big to ignore now. Hot, guilty tears rolled silently down her cheeks. She slid down onto the floor, collapsing with no one to help her back up. Silent tears turned into sniffing, then sobs. Her face turned red and blotchy and her nose ran, and her eyes were red raw, and her make-up was washed clean off, exposing her. Those sobs didn't stop when she ran out of tears. They didn't stop for hours.  
They didn't stop until she had cried herself to sleep again. In the middle of the floor.

Alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Rena Rouge, Alya, and indeed Trixx, were not dead. They weren't in a good situation, but they were not dead. Rena had caught Mr Cuddly, just after the explosions went off, and managed to stream line herself right down into the cloud. Straight as a plank, fast as a speeding bullet she went straight down.  
Straight through an open manhole cover.  
Straight into the sewers.  
The cloud of smoke filled the dark, stinking tunnel she found herself in. If it wasn't hard enough to breath it was now. Dust and debris came crashing down the hole after her, and sent her hurrying along the tunnel. She slipped and fell, and crashed straight down onto the sewer floor. Trixx came flying out of her necklace as the debris covered the hole, and blocked out the last of the light. She screwed up her face in disgust at the smell.

"Where's your phone Alya?" Trixx asked.

Alya groaned, and coughed hard, choking on the air. Between the smell and the dust, it was difficult to breath. Trixx landed on her shoulder, and scurried down her arm to reach her phone in her pocket. Trixx pulled down the bar to flick on the torch. Alya winced as the blinding white light sliced through the dark. Trixx lifted the phone up, and shined it down on Alya. The damp ground around them gleamed. Alya shuddered in disgust and pulled herself to her feet. Her arm ached from the impact though. Trixx shone the torch on the teddy bear in Alya's hand.

"Was this worth making Chloe happy?" Trixx asked.

"I've gotta be a hero girl. Even to Chloe," Alya said.

"Even if the akuma gets away?" Trixx asked.

Alya's face fell. "Oh... I forgot about that..."

Trixx wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes. "No, you didn't."

"Well stop complaining! What's done is done, and he can't leave that way, so which way out is there?" Alya huffed.

Trixx's amber eyes shone in the light of the phone's torch as she turned it down the tunnel.

"There's only one way to find out. You gotta go deep girl," Trixx beamed.

"I don't know why you're smirking, you've gotta come too," Alya smirked.

Trixx's shoulders sagged, and the smile was wiped off of her face, which made Alya smile again.

"Come on, it's only horrible and smelly. We deal with that every day we spend with Chat Noir, right?" Alya grinned.

"Every time we see Plagg," Trixx agreed.

"Exactly. So there's nothing to fear, right?" Alya said.

"Course not."

"Right. Come on then, let's find a way out of here."

Trixx took her place on Alya's shoulder, holding the phone up for her. Alya raised the teddy bear from the ground, and pulled it up to her chest.

"You're really gonna keep that dumb bear huh?" Trixx asked.

"Of course!" Alya said, "I almost died for this, I'm getting it back to Chloe!"

"Dry cleaned?"

Alya looked down at the bear. It was a little dirty, and almost definitely stank terrible now. That was enough to cheer Alya up, but that wasn't how heroes were supposed to think.

She wrinkled her nose. "We'll see."

Trixx chuckled happily. She knew Alya couldn't be that nice to Chloe. Hero or not, there was a limit.

The sewers of Paris were laid out exactly the same way as the streets above. There were even signs posted. When Trixx moved the torch on the phone, it made the signs shine.

"Quai Saint-Bernard, that's where the zoo is," Alya said.

"The zoo! That's where the akuma was heading," Trixx grinned.

"Gee, I wonder if that's why I mentioned it!" Alya huffed.

"Don't be sarcastic, it's unbecoming," Trixx huffed back.

They chuckled together. The pair of them had an odd relationship, more like Adrien and Plagg than either cared to admit. At least they were on the same wavelength though. Trixx was well named, she liked her pranks, and she wasn't as lazy as Plagg, so she was easier to control. Not much though.  
They found a ladder straight up to a manhole, which had enough holes in to let in some light to see the bars. That was helpful since between the phone and the bear she didn't have a free hand.

"Will you go through as Rena, or Alya?" Trixx asked.

"Either way someone's going to ask questions. They might ask less if I'm Rena," Alya said.

"Transform?"

Alya took her phone and tucked it into her pocket. Trixx was handsfree now, and ready to become travel sized, for Alya's convenience.

"Transform."

A bright flash of orange drew the attention of a group of tourists taking a tour of the sewers (don't ask Alya why, tourists are a strange bunch) but by the time they were close enough to investigate, all they saw was a flash of a bushy tail, and then the manhole crash back into place.  
Rena expected everyone to be up in arms, panicking about the akuma heading this way. She was surprised to find that they weren't. No one seemed phased by anything. Nothing was out of place. She took to the rooftops to get a better view.  
Nothing.  
There was nothing around at all.  
That destroyed building two blocks back, was back in position. Fixed and clean and standing proud as if nothing had happened.

"They must have captured the akuma without me," she muttered.

That was a relief. She didn't fancy the others taking the mick because of how terrible she smelt right now. All for this smelly yellow teddy bear too. Well with nothing else to do, she headed home, straight for the shower.

...

Nino paced back and forth across Marinette's bedroom, walking from one side of the room, all the way to the other. Every single time he turned, he complained about how she wasn't answering.

"I _know_ she's not answering Nino, she's not replying to my texts either!" Marinette snipped.

"But WHY isn't she answering?!" Nino hissed.

"Nino, calm down. I'm telling you, Trixx wouldn't be active if Alya wasn't safe," Wayzz insisted.

"Then, where is she?!" Nino demanded.

Wayzz wasn't deterred by how angry and pained and desperate he was. He raised his hands in front of Nino, and repeated, in a cool voice, "Calm down."

"He's right. You have to face it Wayzz. Just because she's active doesn't mean it's Alya holding her," Marinette said.

Nino's eyes widened. "You think someone stole her miraculous?"

"Don't think like that Nino. You both have to calm down. Maybe she doesn't have any signal," Tikki insisted.

It was too late. Nino was heading down the rabbit hole. "Maybe she's alive and has Trixx, but Hawkmoth found her..."

"No," Wayzz said, firmly.

"There wasn't a body..." he whispered.

"Nino stop!" Wayzz insisted.

"There wasn't any sign of struggle!" Tikki insisted too.

"Well the lucky charm would fix that wouldn't it?! It doesn't mean there wasn't one! Anything could have happened in that dust cloud! No one could see!" Nino snapped.

No one could see and that's what was hurting the most. She couldn't have survived, but there was no sign she had died, and no sign she hadn't. No matter how hard they looked, there was nothing. Adrien opened the hatch door and Plagg zipped straight to Tikki to gather her up. Tikki pushed him off of her. Plagg whined under his breath. She knew that he was only doing it because he didn't want to admit he was scared, so he wanted to pretend he was comforting her, but he didn't understand what he'd just walked into. Tikki and Wayzz were desperately trying to keep too overly anxious people from panicking.

"Max is ok," Adrien declared.

It was nothing personal to Max that they were far more concerned with the more urgent and pressing matter.

"Any sign of Alya?!" Nino asked.

Adrien closed the trap door with a sigh. "I didn't see anything."

Both of the others gave a noise between a groan and a sigh, terrified and frustrated. Marinette sank into her chair and covered her eyes with her hands.

"This is my fault..." she sighed.

"No. No it wasn't," Tikki insisted.

"If I told her to take Rose first she wouldn't have hesitated and she wouldn't have come back," Marinette argued.

"By that logic it's my fault too," Adrien said.

"It isn't!" Wayzz insisted.

"It must be. If I hadn't cataclysmed that rock, Max would have been taken by someone else, and she wouldn't have had to come back," Adrien said.

"If I had taken Rose faster..."

"If I had stopped her coming back..."

"If I'd been faster with Chloe..."

"If I'd taken Chloe..."

Nino and Marinette sank lower into a pit of despair that Wayzz wasn't prepared for. For over a century he had lived with the guardian. A wise old man who knew more about them than anyone left alive, and was able to control his emotions. Now he was surrounded by hormonal, emotional teenagers, who were falling into helplessness the way other people fell asleep. Slowly, and then too fast to stop them.  
Adrien, however, was able to deal with this. Even though he hadn't been around many kids growing up, he was still one of them, and he knew these two better than most people. He leapt to his feet so suddenly that all the attention was on him.

"This isn't any of our faults!" He declared.

"You tell them Adrien!" Plagg cheered.

"Then who's is it?!" Marinette demanded.

"It's Hawkmoths. If he didn't come in here, and he didn't akumatized people, there wouldn't have been any trouble at all. We never would have been there," Adrien said, firmly.

Nino had slipped too far for irritation to bring him back, like it did for Marinette. He picked up the Lady Wi-Fi doll from her shelf, and felt a ball harden in his throat.

"We were going to the aquarium," he said.

Adrien turned his head to look at Nino. "Were you?"

Nino nodded sadly. "I like to see the turtles... they never seem bothered by anything. I never used to be bothered by anything..."

Marinette sank back down onto the sofa beside him, as he fiddled with the Lady Wi-Fi toy. Tikki and Wayzz shared a helpless look. They had no idea what to do now. The mood sank back so low even Adrien couldn't pull it back. He hated this mood more than anything. It felt too familiar.

"Who's going to tell her family?" Nino asked quietly.

Marinette sighed. "I will. I knew her best. I'll do it."

"No. She was my girlfriend. I should tell them," Nino said.

Wayzz whizzed through the air urgently. "No! Don't do it! Don't do any of it! She's fine! She's alive! _I can feel it_!"

"Then tell me where she is!" Nino shouted.

Wayzz reeled back, as did the others. Nino rarely shouted, outside of his music. If it wasn't too loud to be heard, he rarely raised his voice. Adrien had never heard it, and Marinette hadn't since that time he broke his arm in primary school, and even then, it was only to scream in pain, once.

Wayzz ringed his wrists anxiously, "I... can't... but you have to trust me. Please, trust me. I know she's alive. I know it."

Plagg raised Adrien's phone above his head. "Have you seen the news?"

All of them turned to watch the channel exclusive, explaining how Rena Rouge had gone missing, presumed dead. None of them knew how they'd gotten the story, or that footage of Rena diving back after... _a teddy bear_?! That ridiculous, stupid, reckless girl! What did do that for?! That mood gripped the rest of them, before it finally melted back into, I can't believe she's gone...

"We have to tell her family... even if she's not dead, she's missing. They deserve to know," Adrien said.

Marinette shook her head. She was close to crying but she just couldn't find the tears, so instead, her legs turned to jelly, and she felt her arms shaking.

"I'm going to keep looking for her. Maybe she's not answering because her phone is missing," she decided.

Nino suddenly saw a ray of hope. "Yeah, maybe she dropped it! Maybe that's why she's not answering!"

"I'm going to try phoning her to track it down," Marinette said, firmly.

Adrien laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'll come with you. I don't want you to be alone right now."

Overcome with a sudden urge to cling to what she loved, she wrapped her arms around him. He understood, and hugged her back, laying his cheek against her head.

"I love you," she said.

"I know," he said.

Nino sniffed. "If you find her-"

Marinette turned around, leaving a hand on Adrien to make sure he knew she wasn't about to let him go.

"I'll phone you. Cross my heart," she said.

"The moment you find her," Nino said, firmly.

Marinette and Adrien both nodded, silently promising to phone the moment they found her. The very moment.

"Tikki-"

"Plagg-"

"Spots on!"

"Claws out!"

"This isn't a good idea!" The pair of them yelled as they were sucked, inelegantly into their miraculous.

Wayzz was now at an utter loss. He hovered near to Nino and laid a hand on his arm. His voice was low.

"I really think she's ok Nino."

Nino sniffed. "Sorry I shouted."

"It's ok. I know you don't mean it," Wayzz shrugged.

"I can't lose her Wayzz..."

"We'll find her. We just have to keep looking."

"I hope you're right Wayzz. I hope you're right."

...

"Ew! You stink!" Her sister called from the sitting room.

"Love you too," Alya called from the kitchen, where she was throwing the teddy bear into the washing machine.

"Seriously you don't half pong! What have you been up to?!" Her sister called.

"I've been wading through the sewers," Alya stated.

"You don't have to be sarcastic!"

Trixx grinned so wide Alya couldn't help smiling back. She wandered back out of the room, and straight into the bathroom.

"I'm having a shower," she declared.

"You need one," her sister scoffed.

Alya peeled off the stinking clothes, wrapped herself in a towel, and threw the rest of her clothes in with the bear, and turned it on. She didn't want that bear in her house any longer than it needed to be.

"You're doing to need a wash too Trixx," Alya said.

Trixx leapt into the shower beside her, right under the shower head, getting herself as soaked as she possibly could, and beamed. "I'm ready!"

Alya rolled her eyes. Trixx loved being pampered. Alya had washed her with shampoo once, and massaging it into her fur felt so nice that Trixx wanted to do it again and again and again. Her pretty orange fur positively gleamed.

"You can just wait!" She tutted.

"But I stink!" Trixx whined.

"You always stink," Alya said.

Trixx scowled. "Better than you!"

"Then I should wash first, and you can wait," Alya smirked.

Trixx's shoulders sagged again. "Touché."

They spent so long in the shower that the entire room steamed up, and they used half a bottle of shampoo to ensure the smell was gone. Now the pair of them smelt heavily of raspberries, rather than the sewers. Alya wrapped the towel around herself, and another around her hair.  
Trixx shook herself hard, from head to tail, so her entire body puffed up, like she'd been hit by an electric shock. Alya grabbed her glasses from the side, and wiped them on her towel so she could see, and headed back into her bedroom. Trixx trailed after her. Neither of them noticed the breaking news that was being announced on the TV.

"Parisian hero Rena Rouge is still missing, presumed dead after the latest akuma attack, which also hospitalised 14-year-old Max Kanté. Local authorities are appealing for any information - "

The bedroom door slammed shut and cut off the news report. If Alya had heard it, perhaps she wouldn't have shut the door.

"Have I missed any messages Trixx?" Alya asked.

Trixx darted towards the dresser where the hairdryer was laying on the dress. "I wanna go on the hair dryer first!"

"Let me get dressed first! Check my phone for messages please," Alya said as she pulled clothes from her drawer.

Trixx tried to lift the hair dryer. It was bigger than her phone, so it was harder to pick up. She was so busy doing that, that she couldn't be bothered to check Alya's phone. If she had, she would have seen the sixty missed messages and thirty-two missed calls from Nino, Marinette and Adrien, all of whom were gathered in Marinette's bedroom, crying and panicking.

"You haven't got any," Trixx declared.

Alya frowned. "Are you sure? I thought Marinette or Nino would have phoned to ask where I ended up."

"No new messages!" Trixx dropped the hairdryer on the bed beside Alya and allowed her fluffy tag to wag excitedly. "Now?"

Alya put a hand on her hip, which was covered by her towel. "Do I look dressed to you?"

Trixx tilted her head. She was first active way back when pharaohs and roman emperors walked the earth. She was used to togas. This just seemed like a more modern version of one.

"Um, yeah?"

Alya realised her mistake and shook her head. "No one wears towels anymore Trixx."

"Well I don't know! Human fashion is weird. It changes so quickly," Trixx huffed.

"And yet I'm always in style," Alya smirked.

"I would be too if you turned this on!" Trixx picked up the barrel of the hair dryer pointedly.

With Trixx constantly badgering her into using the hair dryer, Alya had to get dressed as quickly as she possibly could. She was busy blasting Trixx with the hair dryer when Nino knocked on the door.

"DOOR!" Alya's sister yelled.

"WHAT?!" Alya yelled back.

" _DOOR_!"

"GET IT THEN!"

Nino caught his breath as the door opened. His mind was whirling with what to say, and now he forgot his entire language. Alya's sister scoffed.

"Alya, you're boyfriend's here!"

Nino frowned. He spotted Alya's bedroom door open. He felt his heart stop. His jaw dropped when she appeared in the doorway. Alya smiled it him, and his eyes bulged.

"Come on in then! Jeez, anyone would think you'd seen a ghost!" She smirked.

Alya had to drag him into her bedroom so she could shut the door. Her touch refroze him. The shock turned him into a statue. For ten long minutes, he stared at her in shock and horror. She carried on drying her own hair with the dryer, and started brushing out Trixx's fur, when Nino unfroze. He stood up and strode robotically across the room with a single goal in mind. The bear hug Alya found herself in was too tight to breath in, but she tried not to fight it too much. It was sweet he cared after all. But he was about to snap.  
Wayzz took Trixx under his fix, and edged her backwards, under an open book upside down on the desk, for shelter.

"WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! YOU VANISHED! WE THOUGHT HAWKMOTH GOT YOU! GOT TRIXX! THE PANIC! THE FEAR! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR PHONE?!"

Alya scowled at Trixx. " _Trixx_! You said I didn't have any messages!"

"I didn't actually check," Trixx muttered.

" _Trixx_!"

"Sorry."

Nino continued yelling, "A TEDDY BEAR ALYA?! A TEDDY BEAR IS NOT WORTH YOUR LIFE! MARINETTE- Oh my God I have to call Marinette!"

"Wait, we'll just go over to her house. I'd much rather be shouted out there," Alya said.

"What?!"

"Tom will give me chocolate cookies and tell me not to worry, Marinette's just a bit stressed right now and doesn't mean it!"

"BUT SHE MEANS IT! _I MEAN IT_!" Nino grabbed her arms and held them so tightly that his nails left marks on her flesh, and lowered his voice to an urgent threat. "Don't you _ever_ do anything like that again. Do you understand me Alya? Never!"

Alya smiled softly and eased his arms off of her. "I understand. I love you too."

If you thought Nino's reaction was strong you should have been there for Marinette's. All of the kwamis huddled under the pillow on her bed, hiding from flying books, pens, pencils, scissors, and anything else non-breakable she could get her hands on. Alya dodged every one of them until Marinette was done screaming, and her voice was almost gone, and her tears were a puddle on the floor. Adrien watched on in horrified silence. He wasn't entirely convinced that Alma wasn't a ghost or a zombie, and Marinette's tantrum was big enough for both of them. Then, when she couldn't cry because her tears were gone, and she couldn't scream because she could barely breath, Marinette glared at Alya.  
The guilt and shame and horror of what she had done hit her then. All of it. She was close to tears herself, on their behalf.

"Why Alya? Why did you do it?" Adrien asked, his voice barely audible.

Alya kept her head low. She couldn't look at them. The shame was too much.

"I left Chloe... I wasn't being a hero, I let opinion cloud my judgement. So when she dropped her bear she looked so... like you do right now Adrien. I thought... I thought if I got it back, I could be a good hero again."

Marinette said nothing. She stopped straight over to Alya, even as Nino and Adrien tried to stop her, worried about how hurt Alya was going to end up. But boys don't know what friendship between girls is. How deep it can go.  
Marinette wrapped her arms around Alya. Alya hugged her back, just as tightly as she possible could. The anger between them burned, but they wouldn't care. Alya buried her face into Marinette's shoulder. Marinette pressed her cheek against her head.

"Don't ever do it again Alya. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm sorry."

"I know. I love you."

"I love you too."

Alya clung on a little tighter, and Nino couldn't hold back. He stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around the two of them. On the other side, Adrien copied. All four of them ended up huddled together, like their kwamis under the pillow, crying with relief that Alya was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe brushed out her hair slowly. She'd stayed in her room for the entire next day, thinking. Her father was worried about her, so he had the staff keep an eye on her room for any movement. Other than opening the door to take the room service brought to her, there was no sign of life in that room. It was Sunday, and everyone was too rushed off their feet to care about one girl locked away in her room ignoring the world. It wasn't like they could lure her out with Mr Cuddly.  
It was him she thought about at first. The day she got him. The day her mother left, and she and Adrien played tea parties with him. The day she found out Adrien's mother had actually been the one who brought him. The day Adrien's mother got sick, and Chloe gave him Mr Cuddly to help him be brave. The day she faced Adrien's mother just before she left and promised her...  
it didn't matter.  
She hadn't kept it.  
She wondered if Adrien's mother was taking care of Rena Rouge now. She was good at taking lost children under her wing. Rena Rouge wasn't much more than Chloe's age. She couldn't be. Otherwise she wouldn't have understood how important that bear was to her. she couldn't just get another one either, like her father would tell her to. It wouldn't be the same. Rena understood that. that's why she'd gone back for it. that had to be the reason. Why else would she have done it?

Who goes back into an exploding building to save a teddy bear for a spoilt teenager even after they were rude to you, and dies for it?

Only heroes do that. not off brand knock offs. Off brand knock offs don't save you from that building even though you're rude to them, they don't protect you when you refuse to hold their shield, and they definitely don't die for teddy bears. Real heroes do. Rena Rouge was a real hero.  
Chloe glanced around her room. Her dumb ladybug yo-yo was on the floor, her posters on the wall seemed to be mocking her. everywhere she looked, Ladybug was there. Watching her. judging her. Ladybug had saved her life before, and Chloe had saved hers in return.

Could that make Chloe a hero?

No.  
Real heroes go back for the bear.  
Chloe wouldn't even go back for her friends.  
If she had any friends. What had Rena Rouge said?

 _You're a brat kid who got her friends - if they are your friends - trapped up here with bombs about to go off downstairs! It's not an honour, it's a chore. A repetitive one._

Chloe buried her head in her hands, shamefully. There was too much truth in that. Rena knew it, and now, so did Chloe. She wanted to prove her wrong. She wanted to phone someone and have them say "yeah, of course we're friends!" but she couldn't think of anyone who would do it, and mean it. Sabrina, yeah, sure, of course she would, but recently she'd been edging away from her, and towards Rose. There was Adrien, but... well that was another story. One she didn't want to think about right now. Which meant Chloe didn't have anyone to call. She scrolled through the numbers in her phone. Every single class member showed up, and she scrolled passed each one. It wasn't like they'd ever answer her.

Maybe Adrien. Maybe Rose. Mylene at a push. Nathanael because he was afraid of her. No one would answer her just because they cared. No one ever phoned her for the same reason.

Maybe it was just that. No one cared. Not about her anyway. If anyone did, it would be her mother, right? But she left.  
And Adrien's mother left.  
They all left.  
Maybe that's why it was so difficult to make friends she wanted to keep, and to hold onto the ones she had. Because she didn't want them to leave. Maybe that's why she pushed them away. So she wouldn't be pushed. Even so, that was no excuse. She had pushed away Rena, and look where she had ended up.  
Alone and miserable on her bedroom floor.  
Chloe turned off her phone and pushed it away. She didn't want to be reminded of how lonely she was inside. She didn't need a reminder. She could feel it constantly.  
Perhaps, if she hadn't turned off her phone, she would have seen the video, about to viral, which had just been uploaded to the Lady Blog. But then she wouldn't have come to the conclusion that she did. Chloe made up her mind and announced it to the empty room.

"I am not going to be lonely anymore. I am going to honour Rena Rouge. I am going to become someone she would be honoured to rescue. No matter what it takes."

Which was easier said than done.

...

It was far too early in the morning, but Max was awake. He was watching the new video on the Lady Blog. An exclusive interview with Rena Rouge herself.

"I am deeply sorry for any concern or heart ache I caused any citizen. It wasn't at all intended, and I hope you can all forgive me."

Max, along was the rest of Paris, was just glad to know she was alive, and willing to keep protecting them. If she hadn't whisked him away to safety like that, he might have had more than just a broken leg.  
Then he heard a quiet tapping on his bedroom window. He looked up. Imagine his shock to see Rena Rouge tapping on the glass with her claw. She waved. Max frowned at her through the window. He pushed his glasses up his nose, and leaned on his crutches to held him wander over to the window. She grinned at him as he heaved it open.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, awed.

"I felt bad. I didn't come back take you to hospital like I said I would, so I came to check up on you," Rena explained, calmly.

"That's very kind of you, thank you. And thank you for saving me. By the law of probability, the chances of me losing my leg if you hadn't been there rose by-" Max began.

Rena interrupted. "Max, I'm glad you're safe."

He pushed his glasses up again, and blushed slightly. "Thank you."

"How long will you be out of school?"

"Two weeks. Alix is going to bring me my homework. I've no doubt hers will end up in my pile too. I don't mind. I'm going to miss my friends while I'm not at school."

"Wont they come and visit?"

"Yes, but its significantly less time to bond than we would have when spending all day together," Max shrugged.

"That's true. But hey, it'll give you time to practice gaming, so this year, maybe you'll beat Mari- um, Adrien!" Rena said.

She didn't want to say he could beat Marinette. That girl was shockingly good at video games. She played when she was sick, or when she was bored, or had time to waste, or to wind down if she was awake all night, or because her father wanted to play, and every time in between. There was no way to beat her.

Max spotted Mr Cuddly and tilted his head curiously. "Why do you have a teddy bear?"

Rena glanced down at the bear in her hand, and then back up at Max. "I'm taking him home."

"Statistically-"

"I'm sorry max but I am in a rush. I'm glad you're doing well, and I hope you heal soon."

"Thank you."

Rena nodded warmly, and moved to fly off. Max leaned out of his window to call her back. "Rena?"

There was a pause before she appeared again. "Yes?"

"I forgive you. And I'm glad you're safe," he said.

Rena felt her stomach twist. He was so sincere about it that it completely took her by surprise. Paris loved their heroes, she knew that from the support of the Lady Blog, but it wasn't unusual to see people forget about Chat Noir, so she assumed she and Carapace would end up the same way. Rena smiled at Max, warmly. This made everything worth it.

"Thank you Max. That means a lot," she said.

He nodded, and now neither of them had any idea what to say, he slipped back into his room, and she headed off towards Chloe's hotel. Rena started to wonder how many people thought the way Max did. She knew a lot of them were happy with the new heroes, and said they were imposters, and they still couldn't defeat Hawkmoth so what was the point of them, and that niggled at her. But now there was Max. Max who thought she was a hero, and was glad to know she was safe.  
That was who she needed to remember.  
That's the people she was fighting for.  
That's why she went back for the bear.  
Speaking of.  
Chloe's bedroom was in the penthouse, obviously, but which window? It didn't take her long to find the balcony that Ladybug once leapt off of, but Rena was unaware of that face. Ladybug hadn't told her that story yet though. She wasn't proud of it. Rena cleared her throat as she crept in through the door. The room was empty.

"Chloe?" She called.

Chloe had already gone. She was full of determination to keep this promise, so she was going to stop at a local bakery (not Marinette's. She was willing to improve herself but there was a line) to buy treats on the way in to school. The butler had taken the opportunity to go in to her room to tidy up and open all the windows. Letting the air freshen the room would help to improve her mood when she came back. That was the hope anyway.  
The open window gave off a breeze that Rena followed. There was no one in the hall either, which meant she didn't need to face Chloe. That at least was a bonus. When she found Chloe's bedroom, it had been tidied. There was no sign of the mess that Chloe had caused while deep in tantrums mode. Maybe if there had been, Alya would have let Chloe off the hook later that morning.  
Rena had grown... not _fond_ of the bear, but she no longer resented it as a symbol of Chloe. It was more a symbol of what kind of hero she could be. She no longer hated the bear, but she wasn't fond of it either. Still, she placed the bear neatly on the bed, so it sat upright and against the wall. Rena put took a step back to admire it and dusted off her hands. Satisfied that her job was over, she escaped quickly, before anyone knew she had been there.

...

Standing outside the school building, Chloe drummed her fingers against her bag strap anxiously, and took a deep breath.

"Alright... today is a new day... I have to do this. For Rena."

Chloe put on a brave face, and headed to class. She expected everyone to be mourning. She didn't expect them to be standing around joking and laughing. She felt a burning pain in her chest.  
How could they be happy when Rena Rouge was dead?!  
Chloe took another deep breath and pushed the anger down into her stomach. She had to be calm. She had to be nice. She had to do it for Rena. Chloe walked up to her desk and left her bag on it. Inside was a box of macaroons that she pulled out now. She wandered to the front and cleared her throat.

"Hi everyone-" she paused. No one was listening, "um, hello?" Nothing. She scowled. "WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN?!"

That worked. Everyone sank into their seats, looking straight at her. All their faces were unimpressed, and Alya and Marinette rolled their eyes at each other. Alya had moved one seat forward so the four of them could sit in their couples, so sharing that eye roll was more blatant than they expected. Chloe winced. This wasn't going so well.

"Um, so, that akuma attack was kinda my fault - not entirely! Just, like, enough that I thought, I should, maybe, kinda, sort of apologise. So here," Chloe opened the box and showed the macaroons off, "I brought enough for everyone, but I wanna make sure someone takes some to max."

"Why don't you take them to Max?" Marinette asked.

Chloe stared at her like she suggested hitting a duckling with a mallet. "Me?! Go to a dirty hospital?! Don't be absurd!"

"Max isn't in hospital anymore! He went home the same day," Marinette pointed out, impatiently.

Chloe's shoulders sagged. She'd missed a lot of news since she locked herself in her room. "Oh."

"Sit down Chloe, and stop embarrassing yourself," Alya huffed.

Chloe wanted to argue, but she couldn't. For one she didn't know what to say, but more important she didn't want to be mean. That's not what heroes did.

"They'll be on my desk if you want them," she muttered, and wandered back to her seat.

"Yeah right," Marinette muttered.

Alya leaned over her desk to be closer to Adrien and Marinette, and lowered her voice, but not enough to stop Chloe hearing. "What are the chances they're poisoned?"

Chloe gasped under her breath. That thought _that_ badly of her? She never imagined it was that bad. She thought everyone loved her. Her heart sank miserably.

"Come on, she probably put a lot of effort into that! She's not all bad. Remember her party?" Adrien said.

"The first time we danced?" Marinette couldn't stop herself smiling at the memory.

"The first time I had to fix your positions physically because you too were too useless to dance properly?" Alya smirked.

"Yeah that one," Adrien grinned.

"I recall it," Alya nodded.

"Rings a faint bell," Marinette smirked. "You like bells, don't you kitty?"

"Come on, I'm serious! Chloe probably put a lot of time into that just to say sorry," Adrien insisted.

Chloe felt her heart lift hopefully. She didn't move, because she didn't want them to think she was listening in to their conversation.

"If you think you can trust it, you go eat one," Alya challenged.

Adrien pulled a face at her. She, as well as Nino and Marinette, knew perfectly well that he was on a diet. They knew it, because he never stopped complaining about it. You'd think that running around the city and fighting would be good exercise to help him lose weight, but all the baking with Marinette's parents was far too tempting, and he ruined his diet too many times to lose that weight. Alya gave him a smug smile, knowing he was beat.

"No," he said.

"Then shut up," she stated.

"Alya!" Nino scolded.

Alya played innocent as Chloe sank lower into her chair. She was miserable now. This being nice lark was harder than she expected. Chloe laid her head on arms on her desk, to sulk. Kim stood up, and strolled down the steps, to the front of the classroom. He stopped in front of Chloe, with a hand on his hip. She raised her head, and groaned inwardly as he grinned at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Did you bake the macaroons yourself?" He asked.

"No," she spat, as if that was ridiculous, "I brought them."

"Can I have one?" He asked.

She pushed the box forward, without a word. Kim fished one out and held it in the air to examine it. They were deep purple, and looked rather lovely. He bit into it, and hummed as if it were delicious. Chloe raised her head a little further, watching him curiously.

"Delicious," he declared.

Chloe saw a chance to be kind again. She nudged the box forward again. "Take them."

Kim's eyes widened. "All of them?!"

Chloe shrugged, "they're just macaroons."

Kim beamed at her, and took the box in one hand, "wow, thanks Chloe! I'll make sure Max gets them, he'll love it!"

Kim winked at her, gratefully as he wandered off. Chloe stared into space, surprised by the speed of which her spirts had been lifted. She made Kim smile. _She_ did. That had her smile. It was a small step, but an important one. It willed her to go on. To find more chances to nice, and take them.  
Rena would be proud.  
But nice things didn't come naturally to Chloe. She struggled to come up with the next random act of kindness she was going to try. By lunchtime she had still only managed to do one. Her new plan was a simple one.  
Feed the birds.  
It was simple, easy, and affective. The birds needed feeding, and she could help. Chloe went into the nearest shop and brought a little bag of birdseed. But birds are tricky. She had to find them first, and that meant wandering around to try to find a flock. Eventually she found some in Champ de Mars.  
She took a seat on a random bench, she threw some bird seed onto the ground. The birds came swooping down, one or two at first. Chloe gave a small smile. A little act of kindness. That was all she needed. They edged closer to her, which she didn't like, but she tried to tolerant it. More bird seed and they started landing on the bench beside her.

"Hey!"

The cry sent all of the birds swooping away in a flock, alarmed, and far too close to Chloe's face. She threw her arms up to defend herself, and the birdseed flew up into the air, and landed over her. Now covered in bird seed, she stared up at the police officer standing over her.

"Hello officer Sabrina's dad," Chloe sighed.

"No bird feeding allowed here Miss Bourgeois. Pigeons are pests, and they ruin the aesthetics with their constant waste," he explained.

Chloe sighed heavily. "I was just trying to do something nice!"

"Well if that's all you want to do, buy some animal food for the shelter, they always want help!" He stated.

"Really?"

"Yes, but no more feeding birds, or I'll have to fine you. Now go back to school."

"Yes Officer Sabrina's dad."

Chloe dragged herself back to class the long way. It risked her being late, but it gave her time to come up with a new plan. Just as she was crossing Pont des Arts to go back to school, she heard someone call her name.

"Chloe! Chloe wait up!"

Chloe turned, and fought hard to roll her eyes as Kim jogged to her side. He beamed at her when he finally caught up with her.

"What do you want?"

It was a little too harsh, which annoyed her again. Kim didnt seem to notice. He carried on grinning.

"I took those macaroons to Max. He loved them, like i said he would," Kim beamed.

Chloe felt her hopes rise. "Really?"

"Oh yeah! He said they were almost as good as the ones from Marinette's bakery!" Kim nodded.

Again that hope sank back down. "Oh..."

Of course he'd rather have them from Marinette's bakery. They were the best in the city. But he could at least try to pretend he liked them just as well. Kim didn't notice her disappointment either.

"Can I walk you back to school?" He asked.

Chloe couldn't be bothered to argue. "Sure."

She regretted that. Kim talked about himself and Max and their dumb bets the entire way back to school. She was glad to get away from him when she could, to go and sulk on her desk. It wasnt long until a small, anxious voice interrupted her.

"C-c-Chloe?"

"What?" She groaned impatiently as she sat up.

Nathanael was hiding behind his sketchbook, like it was a sheild. She felt guilty that he was so afraid of her. That was counter productive. She repeated, in a kinder tone:

"What?"

"You have birdseed in your hair," he said.

Her hand flew to her hair. "What?!"

"Sorry," he turned red and ran to his seat.

Chloe saw the fear again. The frustration and guilt hit her again as she dropped her head down onto her table. "Urgh!"

Adrien wandered in, and frowned when he saw her. He wasn't used to seeing chloe so out of control. It wasn't like her. she looked… sad. And Sabrina wasn't around to help cheer her up. She was alone. Adrien knew what that felt like. He took step forward, about to ask her if she was okay. Then Marinette snuck up behind him, and linked her arms around his stomach. His eyes widened, and he blushed, but she beamed at him, with affection shining so bright in her eyes that he couldn't help smiling. He turned to face her, so she was pressed against him and positively glowing with affection.

"Your hair looks cute like that. almost irresistible," she smiled.

Adrien put on his best Chat Noir smirk, and purred, playfully, "Then don't resist!"

That dumb Chat Noir tone always made her giggle. She leaned up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. But she'd just borrowed Alya's new lipstick, and now there was a lipstick mark on Adrien's cheek that made her smile brighter. He didn't notice. He was too busy smiling at the kiss, unable to stop himself. she laced her fingers through his, and lead him to their seats. As they moved, other classmates caught a glimpse of the lipstick mark, and giggled. Adrien was so enraptured by his girlfriend he didn't notice. For the next few minutes before class started, that Chloe completely slipped his mind. By the time he remembered it was too late. She was walking out of class, silent and alone. Adrien frowned. Something was wrong. He needed to find out what.

…

"A dozen bags of puppy kibble. You have more use for it than I do," Chloe declared.

"Thank you for your donation. You know, we have food. It's regularly donated. What we need more than anything are volunteers," The receptionist explained.

Chloe wrinkled her nose. "Volunteers?"

"Yes."

"What do… volunteers… do?"

"Anything from mucking the stalls to taking the dogs for walks! It's really a very easy process-"

"I'm not mucking out anything."

"You could try dog walking. It's perfect exercise for you and a pooch."

"Are you saying I'm fat?!"

"No Miss, just that dogs need excessive, and they can keep you healthy too if you help," the receptionist explained, calmly.

Chloe shifted, uncertainly. "Is there, like, a trial day? to see if I can do it?"

"Lucas here is ready to go out now if you like," the receptionist gestured to a black bull terrier to her left who was tied to a chair with a lead as someone went to get treats to help control him. "He only needs a twenty-minute walk, because he's aging, and he can't go as far as he used to."

"A sick dog? That's…" Chloe weighed up the pros and cons in her head. It was kind, it was disgusting, it was something she didn't want to do, but it would get people talking about her, nicely again. "perfect!"

The receptionist frowned. "He's not sick, just old. He can still be a handful, so maybe you should-"

Chloe picked up the lead as Lucas started wagging his tail so hard his whole butt shook. "Come on Lucas! Walkies time!"

When the receptionist said Lucas was a handful, she wasn't understating it. once he was outside, he dragged her along the pavement as fast as he could to get to the park quicker. Chloe was deterred by this struggle to stay on her feet, as you would expect. She also wasn't supposed to let him off of his lead, so she had to stay struggling with him. until, that is, they got to the park. Lucas took one step on the grass and went _mental._ You've never seen such an old dog as spry as a puppy before. He leapt up and down so much all four feet left the earth. He tried to run too. Even though he was weighed down by Chloe, he dragged her along, and wound her around and around and around. Then, he spotted a squirrel.  
Chloe didn't even know Nathanael was in the park until she and Lucas crashed into him. unable to keep running, Lucas encircled Chloe and Nathanael repeatedly until they were all tangled up by the lead, and getting tighter. Chloe had to catch him by the collar, and unclip the lead. Lucas shot off like a bullet, but the lead loosened so they could break away. While untangling themselves, Chloe tripped and fell into Nathanael, causing both of them to crash to the floor, and him to bump his head against hers. Groaning, they sat up. Nathanael blushed again.

"S-s-sorry."

Chloe ignored him. she'd had enough now. this was the final straw. She snapped.

"I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!"

"S-s-sorry?"

"All I want is to prove that I can be a good person! to have one measly person think I'm good enough, but NO! EVERYTHING I DO GOES WRONG!"

"Um… a-a-are you ok?"

"DO I LOOK OK?! I'VE BEEN CAUTIONED BY THE POLICE, COVERED IN BIRDSEED, RIDICULED, DRAGGED AROUND A PARK BY A DOG AND NOW _IVE LOST THAT DOG!"_

"He can't have gone far! I'll help you look!"

"What's the point?! Even if I find him, no one will care! He'll go back to the shelter, back to death row, and I will go home and pretend to be a good person because I took a dog for a walk before it died. Brilliant. I hate this stupid planet!"

"Chloe, do you want me to call someone?"

"Just leave me alone. You don't have to pretend to care. No one actually does," she sighed miserably.

Nathanael had no idea what to do, or how to deal with this. his plan had been to come to the park and practice drawing. Now Chloe was going mad. Nathanael glanced around for help. He spotted Lucas over by a tree.

"Hey, look, I don't know what you're talking about, but if you want to take that dog back to the shelter, you should know he's over there," Nathanael pointed.

Chloe followed his gaze, and sighed. "Why is it so hard to be good?"

"It gets easier with practise," Nathanael promised. He held out a hand to her. "Shall I help?"

Chloe didn't see much point, but she was so beaten that she couldn't fight. She took his hand and he helped pull her to her feet. She dusted herself down, and glanced around to see where Lucas had gone. He was over by the tree, just like Nathanael had said.

"Thanks. Don't tell anyone what I just told you!" she threatened.

He threw his hands in the air, urgently, and promised not to. She nodded, firmly, and ran off to try and catch that dog. Nathanael watched her chasing him, and felt a spark of creativity. He sat back down on the bench, and started sketching.


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien and Marinette were wrapped up in a blanket on her sofa, watching Pan's Labyrinth on her computer. Every time a gross or scary part came up on screen, she squealed and buried her face against his chest. Adrien usually laughed and held her tight when things like that happened. Not today. Today he was distracted. He didn't even put an arm around her.

"It's over," he muttered.

Marinette frowned. She didn't move her head from his chest, but she raised her chin so that she was looking up at his face. "What's wrong kitten? You seem upset?"

"It's nothing really, I'm just..."

He bowed his head and sighed. she sat up, concerned that he was impacted this bad. It hadn't been this bad in a long time. Not since he was just Chat Noir, and she was just his friend when he needed one. Well now he needed her.

"You can tell me anything Adrien. We're partners. You know that," she said.

"I'm worried about... about Chloe," he winced.

She tilted her head, confused. "Chloe?"

"Don't be mad," he begged.

She looked surprised. "Mad? Why would I be mad?"

"Because I know you don't like her and I know you think I-"

Marinette put a hand on his chest to stop him from going into a full confessional and begging for forgiveness that wasn't necessary because he already had it.

"Adrien, I think Chloe was the one person you could consider a friend for almost fourteen years. I think she was the one person who stopped you feeling entirely alone when your mother left. I think she is most of the reason you got to come to school, and meet me, and let me fall for you. No, I don't like Chloe as a person. But for some reason she was always nice to you, and for that, I'm grateful to her."

Adrien frowned. "So you don't hate her?"

"I didn't say that. She's made my life difficult in more ways than one. Why are you worried? What's wrong?" she asked.

Adrien sat up properly, so their blanket fell away a little, which is how Marinette knew it was serious.

"You know how I spend every Mother's Day with Chloe?"

"Yeah."

"I also usually spend next Thursday with her."

"Ok?"

"Because it's the anniversary of when her mother left. This time it's ten years exactly."

"Oh."

Adrien gave a small nod. It wasn't exactly something that you wanted broadcast across the entire school, but it was clearly having a bad impact on her. anniversaries were tricky things sometimes. They held the power to destroy things using things you didn't think affected you anymore.

"Now she's changing her behaviour and she seems different, and I think…"

Changing her behaviour like that, giving away things, taking the blame, apologising, her mood swinging on a dime repeatedly, it was strange. It was as if she had made a decision to leave. Adrien didn't want to sound worried over nothing, and he definitely didn't want to cry suicide over nothing, but he couldn't shake that fear from his mind. Marinette understood that. her voice softened.

"Hey, if you're worried about her, go and see her."

"You're sure you won't be mad?" he asked.

She looked puzzled again. "Mad?"

"That I have to leave before the movies over?" he said.

She laughed. "Nah me and Tikki are tough, we can handle Pan's Labyrinth alone, right girl?"

"Right!" Tikki beamed.

Plagg groaned. He had been curled up around Tikki, enjoying the way she gasped and curled in against him anytime something she didn't like happened on screen. Now he was going to have to give it up for Chloe!

"Why do I have to go?! I'm not worried about Chloe!" he whined.

"Aw come on Plagg, don't be difficult!" Adrien begged.

Offended at the indignation that he dare suggest Plagg could be difficult, Plagg smacked the nearest thing so it fell onto the floor. It just happened to be a plate of cookies.

"Plagg! I'm sorry Marinette," Adrien sighed.

Again, Marinette laughed. "Adrien, I babysit Manon. I'm used to temper tantrums."

Plagg scowled. "I am not having a-"

"If you go now I'll bake you a whole camembert quiche all for yourself."

"What are we waiting for?"

Adrien rolled his eyes, but let the kwami transform him. he smiled down at Marinette, grateful that she didn't mind cutting date night short for Chloe of all people. Marinette had to stand on the sofa to reach high enough, but she kissed him on each of his cat ears until a soft purr escaped him. His face was buried in her stomach as she did it, so she felt the purr in her gut. That made her smile.

"I'll be back soon purrincess," he promised.

"Be safe kitty," she said.

She kissed his cheek again, and he swung himself up onto her bed, to leave via the balcony. Tikki moved from the back of the sofa into Marinette's blanket. Marinette tightened it up around the pair of them and held up the popcorn for Tikki to take some. They settled down together to watch together. they didn't need the boys to have a good night.

Meanwhile, Chloe was sulking on her balcony instead of in her bedroom for a change. Her father was out at a charity ball, so she was alone for the entire night. She didn't need to be in her bedroom for privacy. She could be all alone anywhere in her house. Except, that is, the balcony. Because Chat Noir rose from nowhere, balancing on his staff, and flashed her a killer smile as if he hadn't just made her jump.

"Hi Chloe," he beamed.

She frowned. "Chat Noir? What'd you want?"

"I saw the way you kind of exploded back there. I wondered if you wanted to talk about it," he leaned on the railings, so she had to look at him.

She looked down at the city instead. "No one would listen."

"I'm listening," he said.

She scoffed. "You don't care, you just hope I'm not going to get akumatized again."

"That's my job Chloe, but it doesn't mean I don't care."

"I've never heard of a cat who cares."

"Then you've not been paying enough attention to cats. And anyway, I'm here now so you might as well tell me."

Chloe raised her head to look up at the stars that were barely visible through the dense clouds above the city. She watched a plane flying through the clouds like they were nothing. it would be so easy to get on a plane and go somewhere new where no one knew her. she could be a nicer person then. She wouldn't have to prove it. but it would be easier to talk to Chat. She wouldn't look at him though.

"I was trying to be nice and I failed. I was trying to live up to what Rena did and I couldn't, so whatever."

"What Rena did?" he repeated, curiously.

Chloe shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't said this out loud yet. She hadn't admitted it yet. She could feel his eyes boring into her, waiting for an answer. Guilt bubbled in her chest all over again.

"She died going back for my teddy bear. It's an important teddy bear and she died for it and I just..."

"Just?"

"I can't let people in because I can't risk them leaving. That's it. I've broken two promises to dead people. I can't even honour the dead right. I'm useless."

She bowed her head low. Chat Noir edged closer. She was surprised to feel his arm press against hers. Like he wasn't repelled by her. that was new.

"Who else did you promise?" he asked gently.

Another thing she hadn't confessed to anyone. not her father, not her butler, not even Adrien. But who was Chat Noir going to tell? It wasn't like he knew Adrien personally, right? she glanced up at him uncertainly, and then back down at the city.

"I had this friend... Adrien... I met him back before daddy ran for mayor, when he was smoozing with businessmen to get votes. We were about three or something. Adrien was the only other kid there, so I hung out with him a lot. My father's work got hard and my mother couldn't stand it. Daddy said I remind him of her sometimes. She was always tough, so I tried to be. anyway, she left... we must have been four then, because that was ten years ago…"

"And?" Chat asked, eagerly.

"I didn't have a mother anymore. All I had was Mr Cuddly. My bear. I thought mum brought him for me, but it turned out that Adrien's mother did. She knew how much I wanted him, and she just brought him. like it was nothing. because she wanted me to be happy…"

Chloe felt her chest tighten. Chat turned to face the city beside her, so she wouldn't see the pained expression he couldn't quite get rid of.

"She was a good woman."

"The best…" Chloe agreed. "Then she got sick… Adrien was terrified. Mr Cuddly always makes me feel braver, so I told him he could borrow him. Adrien smiled for the first time in like two weeks… I don't know if it made him feel any better, but it made me feel better to know he wasn't alone. It must have made his mother feel the same because she called me into her hospital room one day… I never told Adrien…"

Chat knew that. but now he was far too invested to allow her to get away with not telling him the rest. a little too firmly, he insisted, "go on."

"She… she told me how important I was to Adrien…" a soft smile appeared.

That was true. She was the third most important person to Adrien. His mother, his father, his one and only friend. he remembered that clearly, because it hadn't changed for years. Not until he started school two years ago.

"Adrien's mother asked me to look out for him too. She said he was lonely, and scared, and she didn't want him to feel alone. All she wanted me to do was make sure if he ever needed someone, I would be there. Adrien was my best friend and I never imagined that changing so yeah. I said sure. I promised to make sure if he ever needed anyone, all he would have to do is pick up the phone."

Chat Noir frowned. His tail was already between his legs, and now his ears were lowering too.

"That's a big promise for a child to make," he said.

Almost defensively, Chloe said, "I kept it! I was always there for him! Even when I got sent to school I made sure we saw each other at least once a week so he didn't feel abandoned. His mother got better but… I don't know what happened she just vanished one day. Adrien doesn't like talking about it. I never wanted to put pressure on him to tell me. It's too late now. anyway, I tried to be there for him, but I met..."

She trailed off and pulled a face of annoyance as she tightened her grip on the railings. Whoever it was, she certainly didn't like them.

Curiosity got the better of him. "Who?"

"Marinette." Chloe spat.

Chat winced. He wished he hadn't asked now. as much as he didn't like hearing his friend's slag off Chloe, it was partly justified. Marinette wasn't perfect, but she tried to be good. if this came to defending her, he wouldn't stop. No matter what he was supposed to be doing. To his surprise, she sighed, and continued.

"She's a nice girl really. I know that. really, really nice. but she's got a mother and a father, and they both love her, and they're always there for her and she's so happy and I _hate_ it! I hate it, because I used to have that. Then it all vanished, and I don't know why..."

Chat bowed his head. His empathy for her was a little too much to bear. "I'm sorry Chloe."

"Anyway, Adrien was lonely one day, and he phone me, and I couldn't be there for him because I was in school, so I decided the only way to keep the promise was to bring him into school too, so I…"

She cut herself off hastily. Whatever she did, it was bad. So bad she regretted it. Chat felt his hair straighten slowly as nerve crept in. Whatever she did that was bad, she hadn't ever told him. With all that she bragged about, he couldn't imagine what it could be.

"Yeah?"

"You can't tell anyone," she warned.

Nerve crept into his voice. "why not?"

"promise!" she repeated.

He held up his hand, "Cats honour."

She bowed her head so low her chin hit her chest, low and guilty. "I went to the head teacher and I said if he didn't let Adrien into the school I would tell daddy, and I would kick up such a fuss that he would lose his job, and daddy would write him a scathing reference, so he wouldn't get a job anywhere else, ever. He let Adrien in."

Chat's eyes widened in horror. "Chloe that's-"

"I know. I'm not proud of it anymore, but how else was I going to make sure that Adrien was going to get into my class in my school, so I could keep an eye on him?"

"There would have been another way," Chat said, firmly.

"It wasn't as perfect. There was too much risk it wouldn't have worked. But that doesn't matter anymore. He's in school now. It worked. It was bad, but it worked."

Chat bowed his head too. She wasn't wrong. He was in school. He met the love of his life, and his best friend, and the girl who was definitely going to be maid of honour at his wedding on his first day at school. A first day of school he would never have had if it weren't for Chloe.

She continued, "I was so excited that he was coming. I'd been fighting Marinette so long the whole class turned against me… But I've gotten so used to shutting everyone out of except Adrien that I forgot he didn't know I was like that… He has new friends now... Better friends... We don't talk as much either. I guess I'm the one who's lonely now..."

"Chloe…"

"At least I kept my promise. He's happy, and if he ever needs anything he just has to pick up the phone. I kept my promise, even if it means he won't phone me anymore. At least his mother would be proud of me."

"I'm proud of you."

Chloe scoffed. She didn't believe it for a second. "Whatever."

"I mean it. The world is tough Chloe. You made a hard promise when you were young, and you fought hard to keep it. and now You're trying to be better despite the way you have been. That's something to be proud of. No matter what anyone says," Chat said, firmly.

Chloe glanced over at him. He gave her a firm look that said not to argue with him. He was deadly seriously. For a moment, she dared to believe him.

"Thanks Chat."

"But I think you need to have a look at the Lady Blog. It might make some things easier for you. And talk to Adrien. You were his first and only friend for a long time, that counts for something. He won't forget that," Chat said.

Chole shook her head slowly. "I think it's too late for that."

"But-"

"No, it's ok Chat. I'm glad he's happy."

"Just try ok? you never know what could happen," he begged.

She shook her head again. "Whatever."

"get some sleep. Sleep always helps. Things will be better when you wake up, ok?" he said.

Chloe didn't have the energy to fight. "ok."

"goodnight Chloe."

"night chat…"

Chloe didn't really know how tired she was until she got into her bedroom. Immediately after she shut the door, exhaustion hit her like a tsunami. To be honest she should have expected it. She had just run two miles to catch Lucas and drag him home. Nathanael tried but he wasn't much help. The longer it took her to get into her pyjamas and climb into bed, the more tired she got. When she curled on the bed, and dragged Mr Cuddly closer to her, groaning contently.  
And then she sat up like a bolt of lightning had hit her.  
If Mr Cuddly had survived, someone had brought him here, and there was only one person who could have done that.

Rena Rouge was alive.

Chloe beamed, and squealed in delight, squeezing Mr Cuddly to her chest. Rena Rouge was alive! She could prove to someone alive that she was worth it. That she could be nice. That was enough to will her on.

...

Chole did not talk to Adrien. He waited up most of the night waiting for the call that never came, and by lunch time, Chloe still hadn't come to talk to him. she also seemed to have given up trying to be nice. Now she was sitting alone on a picnic bench, looking lonely. That was it. Adrien wasn't taking any more of this. he strolled right up to Chole, and stopped in front of her.

"Hey."

Chloe looked up. Adrien smiled at her. Chloe blinked in surprise. "Hey."

"Mind if I sit?"

Chloe glanced past him. She could see Marinette, Alya and Nino across the courtyard, looking this way, confused and surprised. She glanced back up at Adrien. This was the last chance she had to beg for his friendship back, but she was Chloe. If she shut him out, he would never hurt her, and she wouldn't risk breaking that promise.

"What happened? Did the loser club kick you out?"

Adrien was unfazed. "My friend is sitting here all by herself looking lonely. You've done so much for me, the least I can do is be there when you need me."

Chloe shut her mouth slowly, lost for a comeback. Adrien sat beside her. His little gang elbowed each other. They bickered between themselves. Chloe lowered her gaze.

"You don't have to do this. You can leave," she said.

"I know," he said.

He flashed her a smile that made her smile back. This had something to do with Chat Noir. She knew it. But she didn't care. It was less lonely now. Nino stood up. He gathered his things and wandered over to join them. Alya and Marinette were more reluctant, but they caved. Marinette first. Chloe glanced at Adrien when Marinette tried to sit down. Adrien winked at her. Chloe said nothing. Silently, she budged up, so she could sit too.  
Chloe had no idea what Adrien, or Chat Noir for that matter, were up to, but she had to admit that being surrounded like this certainly felt warmer than being exposed. She glanced over at Adrien, who winked at her, which made her smile. If this is what it felt like when someone was nice to you, she understood why it was popular. She was still riding that wave of positivity in class, when Adrien left her side to go and sit with his friends. She was pretty far away from them now.

"So why did we have to sit with little miss snooty all lunch?" Alya asked.

"Because Adrien wanted us to,"

"Yeah Alya, suck it up. For Adrien,"

"Isn't that supposed to be Marinette's job?"

Marinette turned red, and dropped her head onto the desk. Adrien was innocently unaware of why. Alya laughed too hard to explain, and Nino snorted when he tried. They were laughing so hard it almost sounded like more than two people. Like there were smaller high-pitched voices laughing underneath. Chloe frowned.

Now she knew what it was like to have a squad, she wanted to be part of one permanently. Nathanael cleared his throat. "Chloe?"

She raised her head. "Yeah?"

"Here."

He pressed a folded piece of paper onto her desk, blushed pink, and ran to the back of the room to his seat. Curiously, Chloe picked up the paper. She unfolded it carefully. Inside there was an adorably detailed drawing of Chloe tied up by a dog's lead, with Lucas attached to the end, running towards the edge of the page.  
Chloe smiled to herself. It was an excellent drawing, even if he made her hair a little too messy and her sunglasses crooked, and the way the lead was tangled around her was a bit like how rope tied up victims to railways in old movies, but Lucas was perfect. Perfect right down to the way his tongue lolled excitedly over his jagged teeth. In the bottom corner he had scribbled:

 _Dreams are like squirrels. You have to chase them._

That made Chole laugh under her breath. She loved this. Really, she loved it. Chloe folded it neatly and tucked it into her pocket. Nathanael's shoulders sagged slightly, relieved that she seemed to like it, but it made him blush harder. He couldn't explain why.  
As soon as class ended he hurried out, so he wouldn't have to face her, just in case he made a fool out of himself. Chloe was a little disappointed by that. More so that Adrien was next to follow so she couldn't thank him for lunch time. He had a photo shoot though, and had to run. Nino and Alya were on their way to the aquarium to make up for lost time. Only Marinette was left.

There was torrential rain, and Marinette didn't have an umbrella. Chloe tightened her grip on her own. She didn't want to get wet. Her hair would frizz up again, and she would look ridiculous. She put her hand in her pocket and felt the folded drawing brush against her knuckles. She frowned. If Nathanael could believe in her, she could believe in herself.  
Right?  
Chloe cleared her throat. Marinette was keenly aware of what day was coming up, which was why she was cutting her some slack. She didn't want to be mean, but it wasn't like she could tell her she knew. She didn't want her to think Adrien had betrayed her trust, even though he technically had. Chloe thrust the umbrella at her.

"Here."

"Oh, um, its ok, home isn't far, and-"

"Just take it."

Marinette hesitated, but she thought back to what Adrien had said. Really, Marinette had a lot to be grateful to Chloe for. If it weren't for her, she'd have met Chat instead of Adrien, and she wouldn't have gotten to know him so well before falling for him.  
She wouldn't have known _him_ at all.  
So Marinette took the umbrella, and smiled.

"Thank you Chloe."

"Whatever."

Marinette didn't want to push her luck, and she defiantly didn't want to be stuck talking to Chloe, so she kept the umbrella low, and hurried towards her house.

"That was nice of her," Tikki said.

"Yeah I guess so. Weird. Maybe she wants something. I wonder what," Marinette said.

Tikki was going to tell Marinette not to be judgemental, and that Chloe could be being nice to change herself, when she got distracted. A familiar face was watching Chloe as she raced off down the street with her bag over her head for protection from the rain. Master Fu stroked his beard thoughtfully. He only had one miraculous left, and he didn't have Wayzz to help him anymore. He was going to need someone else to help him.  
Or four.  
Four kwamis to be precise.


	5. Chapter 5

Each kwami got the alert at different times. The alert was just a sense inside them that they were being summoned. Plagg tried to convince himself it was just hunger and tried to eat it away. It didn't fade. Tikki was excited. Last time they were summoned it was to decide if Nino was the best person to hold the turtle miraculous. Trixx batted her tail happily. She sensed a gathering coming, which was the perfect change to start pranking again. Wayzz was pleased for the chance to see his old charge again, but giving up the last miraculous was him giving up the final thing that linked him to the miraculous. He was already old, who knew how much longer the miraculous magic could keep him going? When he gave up the bee comb...  
The kwamis had to sneak out late at night. When all their charges had gone to sleep, it was time to go. They couldn't know about this meeting. Humans had opinion that tended to be very stubborn and unbendable. Last time one of their charges was involved in deciding the next kwami holder they lost the peacock broach. Although Plagg now knew where it had ended up, which only added to the depth of the mistake.  
It was easy for them to escape. Unlike the heroes, who had to find some gap somewhere big enough for them to wriggle through, kwamis could just slip through solid walls.

Metal? No problem.  
Brick? Can't keep them back.  
Glass? Are you kidding?

They were out in Paris and back together with Master Fu within minutes. Wayzz first, then Tikki, then Trixx, and Plagg last. He landed on the record while the rest gathered in the speaker.

"Be careful down there Plagg, you could end up on a treadmill if you aren't," Wayzz warned.

Plagg laughed. "Not me. I'm too smart for that!"

"Be careful anyway," Tikki warned.

"He's very smug, isn't he?" Trixx said, thoughtfully.

"He always has been," Tikki sighed.

Trixx gave a sly smirk. "Maybe we should teach him a lesson then."

"That's not necessary," Wayzz stated.

"He's not that bad. At least he brought cheese for our snack this time. Last time he forgot to bring anything. He's getting better," Tikki said.

"You have to remember he is all about bad luck and destruction. It's not his fault. Just like you're cunning and trickster tendencies aren't your -"

"ARGH!"

Scratchy music filled the gramophone around them, sending both Wayzz and Tikki zooming out of the speaker, ears ringing. Plagg went racing away from the arm that was trailing closer now that the record was spinning again. The moment he started to make headway, the record spun a little faster. The music got worse. Trixx was standing beside the controls, grinning mischievously as the cat raced faster towards failure.

"Fault either," Wayzz finished, sighing heavily.

Tikki laid a hand on his shoulder. He was the youngest of them, and yet he was a mother hen, always making sure they were alright. He could - not _communicate_ , but he could sense where each kwami was and if they were safe or not, and he could let them know that he was sensing them. They all could, but he was the only one who did it regularly. Sometimes though, when Trixx and Plagg were together, it was so much harder. The two of them tended to bring out the worst of each other. Like now, to get revenge for this prank, Plagg was whizzing around the gramophone after Trixx as she lead him on a wild chase with more sharp turns than a mountain pass. More than once Plagg tried to turn too late and bumped into something. This time he knocked a shelf. Wayzz barely had time to catch the ancient vase before it hit the floor. He placed it carefully back into place, and glanced at Tikki for help.  
Calmly, like a real mother, Tikki stood up, and hovered into position. Trixx came screaming past, and Tikki grabbed her by her long fluffy tail so she cried out. Plagg, realising the trouble he was now in, tried to turn around and run in the other direction. Tikki grabbed his ear, and dragged him back. the two kwamis froze up, trapped by the Ladybug.

"There isnt time for this!" Wayzz complained at them, "This is important, and you two can't waste time running around and breaking things. Do you understand?"

"Sorry Wayzz," Plagg muttered.

"Yeah, sorry girl," Trixx agreed.

Master Fu wandered back into the room, and smiled at the fuss they had caused. "Ah, I thought I heard something almost breaking. I presume you all know why we are here."

Tikki let go of the others and flew forward, buzzing with sugar and excitement. She hovered by Master Fu, with her hands up against her chest like a kid on Christmas Eve.

"Have you decided that Chloe Bourgeois should receive the final miraculous?!" She asked, hopefully.

"Chloe?!" Trixx choked, "You can't give Pollen /Chloe!"

"Why not? Pollen is sweet, she can help Chloe be nice too," Tikki argued.

"You only think she's sweet because she makes honey! She's nice enough but she's got a sting and Chloe will bring out the worst in her!" Plagg argued.

"She brings the best from Chloe, Chloe brings the worst from her. I believe that balance is fair," Master Fu said, calmly.

"If you thought balance was fair, I'd be with Marinette and Tikki would be with Adrien. You know we're better suited, but you said birds of a feather must flock together!" Plagg argued again.

"Exactly! Pollen and Chloe are both sweet when they want to be. Remember that party?" Tikki grinned.

Plagg scoffed. "Yeah, I still get woken up by Adrien telling me he should have known he was dancing with his Lady. It doesn't mean we should put Pollen through that."

"I dunno, Pollen gets her own way a lot of the time. If she wants Chloe to be nice, Chloe will be nice. Maybe she'll be smart enough to bet her this time. Works with Alya," Trixx said.

"Alya does have a way with words. She can convince anyone of anything if she tries," Wayzz agreed.

"Like that time she tried to convince everyone Chloe was Ladybug," Plagg said, sarcastically.

"Right. Chloe idolises Ladybug. If we give her a chance to be like her, maybe it'll work well!" Tikki beamed.

Plagg scowled. That wasn't what he had meant and Tikki knew it.

"And she and Adrien have been friends forever, he cares about her. He'll keep her in line, just like he keeps Marinette in line when she needs it," Wayzz said.

"No, what?! This is /Chloe we're talking about! She causes a dozen akumas a month!" Trixx argued.

"You heard Adrien, Hawkmoth causes akumas, no one else. You can't blame Chloe for Hawkmoth being manipulative," Wayzz countered, in a calm but firm tone.

Plagg was up for a fight though. "He wouldn't have anyone to manipulate if Chloe didn't upset them so often."

"Chloe is trying to be better. She brought macaroons to say sorry for the last akuma, remember?" Trixx argued.

"Whose side are you ok?" Plagg huffed.

"The winning side," Trixx folded her arms and smirked.

Ignoring that, Tikki continued, "She also gave Marinette her umbrella, so she had to go home in the rain."

"Wait - really? What about her hair?" Trixx gasped.

"What about her hair?" Wayzz asked.

"You're telling me /Chloe Bourgeois allowed her hair to get messed up for Marinette to stay dry? There's something up, that's not the Chloe I know," Trixx scoffed.

"Exactly! She's changed!" Tikki insisted.

"But it's a big change, very fast, and it's only been a couple days. what if it doesn't last?" Wayzz asked, calmly.

Plagg beamed. Now he was getting some real back up. He pulled a face at Trixx, smugly, so she pulled one back and he scowled and muttered something about vermin foxes.

"Maybe Pollen would help it last. And Chat Noir will look out for her when it came to fighting," Tikki insisted.

"Alya went back for her bear, even though she hates her. I have to think she'd keep her in check," Trixx said.

"Shall we ask Pollen what she thinks?" Wayzz asked.

"Yes we should. What'd you think Plagg?" Tikki asked.

"I don't know, what does the fox say?" Plagg asked, sulkily.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Trixx countered with a sneer.

"You have to agree before you even ask Pollen. She mustn't have her hopes raised and dashed because Chloe wasn't the right person. Although I believe she is," Master Fu explained, calmly.

"What do you think Trixx?" Wayzz asked, ignoring the bickering.

"I think Alya and Chloe won't get along as heroes any more than as civilians, so if Chloe gets Pollen, we can't let Alya find out who she really is until she proves herself," Trixx shrugged.

Plagg frowned. "That's not how we normally do things."

"We did it for Adrien so his father wouldn't find out-" Tikki began.

"And he still found out," Plagg interrupted.

"But if we do it for less time! If we only keep it quiet for a little while, until they accept her as one of their own, and she proves herself in costume and out, then by the time they work out who she really is, she would be a new person. Someone better," Tikki said.

"Wouldn't be hard, it's not like she could get worse," Trixx mumbled.

"What did you say?" Plagg demanded, defensively.

"I said what about Marinette? Marinette might be overly defensive if she knows it's Chloe. That'll make it harder for her to prove herself, and for anyone else to trust her," Trixx declared.

"Not to mention Adrien. If she knows Chloe is fighting too, she might get protective again. He doesn't like being mollycoddled," Plagg agreed

Trixx gave a fake gasp. "That's a big word kitty! Did you think it was something to do with cheese?"

"The only cheese in this room is your cheesy insults Trixx," Plagg hissed.

"Oooh, kitty has claws!"

"I'm the god of destruction Trixx, I can destroy you and your terrible pranks in the blink of an eye!"

"Children, please. Focus!" Tikki huffed.

"I say we let Pollen take a jab at her. What's the worst that could happen?" Trixx asked.

"She could lead Hawkmoth to finding Chat Noir and Ladybug's real identities. Or she could deflect to his side, and take their miraculous for him. Or for herself. If there's one person who would want ultimate power it's Chloe, if only to get revenge on her mother," Plagg countered.

"Pollen could talk her out of that," Tikki declared.

"Like Nooroo talked out Gabriel?" Wayzz asked.

Tikki bowed her head. They had put too much faith in Nooroo. They shouldn't have. It wasn't his fault. Gabriel was too far gone. That feeling of guilt wiped around the room, and put enough doubt in everyone to put them in their place again.

"It's too much of a risk, I don't like it," Wayzz said.

"I don't think anyone has ever put enough faith in Chloe. She told Chat Noir something the other day that proves it," Plagg said, quietly.

He tried to decide if he should mention what she had done to get Adrien in school. It would come back to bite him if he didn't, but she seemed to regret it enough already that it might not matter... Tikki watched him curiously as he thought. She reached over to take his hand.

"What is it?" She asked.

Plagg decided not to tell them about what she had done. "She made a hard promise when she was young, and she did everything she could to see it through. That's dedication. If she cares about what she's doing, she sees it through."

"Do you think she cares enough to see this through?" Tikki asked.

"I think she cares about prove herself to -" his gaze flicked to Trixx. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. "To her mother. That she was wrong to abandon her. So yeah. I say we help her."

"I agree," Tikki agreed automatically.

Trixx's tail swished thoughtfully for a moment. "So do I."

All eyes fell on Wayzz. Wayzz gazed up at Master Fu. They had met when he was no older than Nino was now. Over a hundred years ago. The blink of an eye for a kwami, but this was different. He mattered to Wayzz. Mattered deeply.

"But what will it mean for you?"

"Don't worry about me Wayzz. As long as I control this box, I control all inactive Kwamis. Duusu is still not active. Her power is weak this far from her, but as long as we both remain in Paris, I can remain strong."

"Even without Pollen?"

"Even without Pollen."

There was a long paused before Wayzz gave a small nod. "Then I agree. Give the hair comb to Chloe. Let it and her do some good."

"For a change," Trixx muttered.

"Trixx," Tikki scolded.

"She's not wrong through," Plagg whispered.

"Plagg!" Tikki scolded.

Trixx glanced over at Plagg. Her tail swished smugly and her pretty lilac eyes sparkled. Plagg felt a growl in the back of his throat. That fox got on his nerves.

…

Nino rolled over to grab his glasses from the side, and sat up to look over at the speakers on his DJ booth. Wayzz had taken to sleeping in the broken speaker, which was most like the gramophone he'd been sleeping in for the last century. Nino's chest eased to see him there.

"Where did you go?"

Nino's voice caused Wayzz to open his eyes and yawn. "Good morning."

"I woke up last night and I couldn't find you. Is everything ok?" Nino asked, concerned.

Wayzz sat up and cleared his throat. He didn't like lying, especially to his charge, but this was important.

"Yes. I just went over to see Master Fu to make sure he was safe. He is. It's all okay," he said.

Nino didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure everything's ok?"

"Everything is fine Nino. Thank you for your concern. It's touching."

"Ok... just let me know next time, yeah? I was really worried about you."

"It won't happen again. I promise."

"Ok. Come on, let's go eat."

Wayzz stretched and floated over to land on his shoulder. He smiled to himself as they headed down to the kitchen. Nino's concern was touching. He was a mother hen too. Maybe Plagg had a point when he said Master Fu put the most similar kwamis and charges together, but he was ok with that. Nino was a nice boy. If Wayzz was anything like him, that was something to be proud of.

...

If there was one thing Prince Ali had taught Chloe, it was that donating things was a good way to score nice points. She was tearing through her wardrobe, trying to find anything that didn't fit her anymore, or that she didn't want anymore, that she could bear to part with. It was a little too hard for her, and now she was sat on the floor, covered in waves of fabric, close to tears with frustration. Then there was a knock on the door.

"What?"

There was no reply. She had to stand up and wade through her clothes to get to the door and open it. On the floor by her door was a little black box with red Chinese symbols on the top. No one else was around. Not even the maid. She picked it up curiously and shut the door again.

"What is this?"

Curiously, she pushed it open. A blinding flash of yellow engulfed her, making her drop the box on the floor. A golden hair comb with flowers engraved along the top clattered onto the floor, but Chloe didn't notice. Her attention was drawn to the large bee hovering in front of her. The bee shook mid-air, so her black and yellow fuzz shook. She blinked her big blue eyes, like she was just waking up from sleep, and focused on Chloe. Chloe stared in horror. The bee beamed.

"Hi! I'm Pollen!"

Chloe screamed. Chloe screamed like she was in a horror movie, and Pollen reeled back in alarm. Chloe raced across the room to find her old tennis racket, and held it out like a weapon in front of Pollen.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN?!"

"Calm down Chloe-"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?! HOW CAN YOU TALK?!"

Pollen made the mistake of moving closer, and Chloe began throwing things. They flew across the room, smashing against the walls and things. Pollen kept dodging and trying to talk, until the butler began knocking on the door, concerned.

"Is everything alright-"

"HELP!"

"No!"

The door opened, and Pollen dove into the mess of clothes. Chloe turned to look at the butler, who looked confused.

"Don't just stand there! Get it!" Chloe hissed.

"Get... what, miss?" The butler asked.

"Get the b- bee?"

When Chloe looked back the bee was gone, and the only thing she could see was mess. Her arms fell to her side. The butler cleared his throat.

"Are you feeling ok miss?" He asked.

"There was a bee..." she muttered.

"Shall I get your father?" He asked.

She straightened up, and cleared her throat. "No... no don't bother daddy. I'm ok. Just pretend this didn't happen."

"If you need me, I'll be outside," he promised.

"Thank you," Chloe nodded.

He edged out, visibly concerned about her. Chloe stared around her room. She wasn't going mad, there had been a huge, talking bee here, right?  
A huge...  
Talking...  
Bee...  
From this tiny little box...  
Maybe she was going insane. Chloe scratched her head, and moved her foot. A clatter drew her attention. She frowned. A hair comb? She picked it up. It was a pretty thing. There was a little bee at the top, and flower chains twisting around it, engraved right into the gold. But Chloe didn't own a hair comb like this. She twisted it in her hand, and slowly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bee emerging from the fabric again. Chloe's heart beat hard and she bit her lip. The bee hovered slowly towards the bedpost, a safe distance in case she started throwing things again.

"W-w-what do you want?" Chloe stammered.

"My name is Pollen. I'm a kwami. I can make you a hero, like Ladybug," Pollen explained quickly.

It was easier to be quick in these situations, so they took it in while frozen, and you didn't get hit. Chloe frowned.

"You can make me Ladybug?"

"No, I can make you a hero /like Ladybug. Or Chat Noir. Or Carapace. Or Rena Rouge," Pollen explained.

Chole straightened up, surprised. She wanted to prove to Rena Rouge that she was worth the sacrifice she had made. What better way to do it than to become of one her kind. With this... bee...

Chloe wrinkled her nose. "You're telling me all of them have weird bugs that make them heroes?"

"Not exactly. Ladybug has a ladybug called Tikki, Chat Noir has a cat called Plagg, Rena Rouge has a fox named Trixx, and Carapace has a turtle named Wayzz. They're my friends," Pollen explained.

"Right... good for you. Why do I care?" Chloe asked.

"Because they sent me to help you," Pollen explained.

Chloe's frown deepened. "Help me?"

"You're trying to be a good person, aren't you?"

"I... I'm trying."

"Well I'm going to help you be a good person, so it will become easier for you to be good on your own."

"But... why? Why would you help me?"

"Because as soon as you prove to me you can be good on your own, I'll tell you how to become a hero like the others, and you can show Paris how good you are," Pollen beamed.

Chloe gasped and drew her shoulders back, "Really?!"

"Beelieve me, I'm telling the truth," Pollen smiled.

"But... What makes you think I even need help?" She asked.

Pollen glanced around the room. The mess all around her room was ridiculous. All the fabric was one thing, but there was a box marked "tot donations" which was empty but sat beside a pile of old toys. Pollen turned back to Chloe, who had taken her silent point, and chosen to ignore it.

"You were specifically chosen, but if you don't want me, you can always refuse me, and give your miraculous to someone more deserving. That would be a shame. You could go far Chloe. You could make a difference to Paris and have everyone love you," Pollen explained.

"And you can help?" Chloe asked.

"Cross my heart."

"What do I have to do?"

"Firstly you can't tell anyone about me. No one. Not even if you think they're Ladybug, you can't tell anyone. It's for your own safety, so Hawkmoth doesn't come after you," Pollen explained, firmly.

Chloe nodded. "I get it."

"And you have to wear your miraculous at all times, so you don't have to keep finding it and putting it on when you have to transform," she said.

Chloe's face fell. "Really?"

"Do you want to be a Queen Bee?" Pollen asked, firmly.

"Would that be my name? Queen Bee?"

"Sure. You usually choose your own."

"Queen Bee sounds good to me!"

"Alright. Now, listen up, because I'm not going to tell you this again. You're in charge, but without me, you're nothing, and I'll been around for centuries. you can make all the decisions you like, but I suggest you listen to me, because I'm usually right, and it will save time. Understood?"

"But-"

"Do you want powers or not?"

Pollen folded her arms and held Chloe's gaze stubbornly. Chloe pulled a sulky face and huffed.

"Fine."

Pollen beamed. "Good. You're learning already!"

Chloe wasn't really sure what to make of this. Pollen was intense, but her stripes matched Chloe's favourite shirt, so she was ready to try and put up with it.


	6. Chapter 6

To say it took all morning to agree which clothes to donate would be an understatement. The understatement of the year. It took all morning and all of lunchtime to decide which clothes to donate (even when they didn't actually fit Chloe anymore she was adamant she wasn't giving them up. Pollen soon changed that), and a good chunk of the afternoon to decide which toys were going to be donated (it was the same here. even if she hadn't played with them for years, and forgot she owned them, they were suddenly her most prized item and she couldn't possibly lose it. Pollen got a bit wound up there) so they didn't actually get to go and donate the boxes until the next morning. After spending most of the night arguing about where was best for Pollen to hide in Chloe's outfit that is. They settled on her inside pocket, but it was rapidly becoming clear that they were going to need something more practical to stop bouncing her.

"I wonder what ladybug uses for her kwami," Chloe said as she narrowly avoided hitting Pollen with the box again.

"Keep up the good work and you can ask her yourself," Pollen said.

The box she was carrying was completely filled with outgrown clothes and toys she was taking to the children's hospital, for Prince Ali's charity drive. His toy drive was the only charity she could remember off the top of her head, even though she and her father regularly attended charity events, it turned out she never took in what they were for. They were publicity events to her. Now she needed them, she couldn't remember any of them. There was another reason to be better. So she could remember the good she did, instead of just the people she met doing it. The only reason she remembered Prince Ali was because of Pollen.  
Something about Pollen reminded her of that strange toy she found on the road.  
Whose toy had that been?  
It didn't matter anymore, but it irritated Chloe that she couldn't remember. It bugged her deeply. Chloe wandered into the hospital, and was given a couple of lollipops in return, which Pollen reminded her to thank them for. As she headed back out, she saw someone with a bigger box, trying to get through.

"Hold the door open for him," Pollen suggested.

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"Just do it," Pollen snipped.

Chole groaned under her breath. She pushed the door open, stepped aside, and held it open for the man to struggle through with his box. To get out of the way, she ended up pressed against the cold brick wall, which made her jacket dirty. Just when she was about to complain, he smiled gratefully at her. Instead of complaining, she felt compelled to smile back. As soon as he was through she let the door shut, and turned around sharply, taking her frustration on Pollen instead.

"Happy? I ruined my jacket!" she hissed.

"Oh it's fine!" Pollen tutted, "but if you don't want it, clean it and donate it!"

Chloe wanted her jacket. It was one of the last clothes in her half empty wardrobe now. she threw her arm over her back and dusted it off.

"Is this better?" She grumbled to Pollen.

Pollen buzzed happily. "Much."

As the bus drove past it stopped at the traffic lights, a gaggle of children, seven years old at the most, waved out of the window.

"Wave back," Pollen said.

" _why_?!" Chloe groaned.

"Because that's what nice people do!"

Chloe groaned again. She waved, grumpily until Pollen told her to smile. You've never seen a faker smile, but the children didn't mind. They beamed back at her like she had given them the moon. As the bus pulled away, Chloe chuckled to herself. Pollen buzzed happily again.

"See how easy it is to be good?"

"Maybe you're right Pollen. Maybe this'll be easier than I thought," Chloe chuckled.

"Then let's celebrate! Do you think that ice cream shop sells honey comb?" Pollen asked.

"Can you eat ice cream? Don't you have a special diet or something?" Chloe said.

"No really. If it's sweet, I'll eat it!"

"Maybe we should put you on a diet then."

"Now we're slipping back into rudeness."

"Let's get that ice cream."

Chloe liked having someone to talk to now. Pollen was stubborn, but sweet, and a little spolit. The two of them butted heads a lot during the first couple days, but Pollen won every time with this whole "be a good person" thing. At least she wasn't so lonely anymore.

"Time for school stripy. Time to face Marinette..." Chloe wrinkled her nose.

"Is that a problem?" Pollen asked, concerned.

Chloe sighed. "Every time I think I can get over this I see a way to be petty around her and I can't resist... it's not her fault, but I can't be a good person around her."

She felt Pollen's tiny hand on her shoulder, to reassure her gently. "That's why I'm here Chloe. I'll help you honey. You just need to beelieve in yourself."

Chloe glanced down at her, visibly uncomfortable with that idea. "Promise?"

"Promise," Pollen nodded firmly.

Chloe didn't bring macaroons in this time and no one paid attention to her. In fact, no one even glanced in her direction. Max was back today, and the class were crowding around him, making a fuss. Even Kim didn't look her way. Chloe slipped in unnoticed and took her seat quietly, trying not to draw any attention to herself. Quietly, she placed her bag on the seat beside her, so Pollen could see out. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she took in her surroundings. It was cute top see someone so enthralled by somewhere that was so familiar to her. Pollen really was adorable.

"Chloe?"

Marinette's voice made Pollen dive into the bag, and made Chloe gasp. Concerned more with keeping Pollen safe than being nice, Chloe's tone was a little too aggressive.

"What'd you want?"

Marinette shifted awkwardly as she held out the umbrella that Chloe had given her. "Here. Thanks. It was useful."

"Oh..." Chloe took it back, and cleared her throat awkward. "you're welcome."

For a moment they stood there, looking at each other like they both thought they should say something more, but didn't know what. Then Marinette coughed, and shrugged.

"Yeah, thanks again."

She hurried back to the safety of Alya, who gave her a quizzical look. Pollen peered out again now they were alone, and nudged Chloe.

"See? You can be nice without my help!" Pollen beamed.

"That's Marinette," Chloe muttered.

Pollen's eyes widened. "The girl you said you couldn't possibly be nice around?! Honey this is easy! You need more faith in yourself."

Pollen settled down for a long rest, in the bag, and Chloe smiled to herself. This was getting easier every time.

"Um, Chloe?"

Nathanael still sounded nervous around her, which kicked her off her high horse pretty quickly. She still had a long way to go to make up for everything she'd done to him, let alone everyone else.

"Hi Nathanael," she said.

"Mind if I sit here today? Sabrina's in my seat," he said, nervously.

"She is?" Chloe turned around to see Sabrina bow her head shamefully at the back. Chloe's heart sank. Even Sabrina was trying to get away from her now. "Oh..."

"I can sit someone else," Nathanael muttered.

"No, I'll just move my bag."

Nathanael took the seat as she moved the bag to her side. In her new position, Pollen got new angles of the room. From way down here, she could see Tikki sitting on Marinette's shoulder, and Trixx pawing at Adrien's bag over the edge of the raised step Alya's bag was so. She could see Plagg's tail flapping angrily as Trixx got close. She watched Wayzz sneak past Adrien's knees to push Trixx and Plagg apart. Trixx dashed off, her tail high, trotting on the top of her paws, smugly. All the while, Plagg's tail still flicked. Wayzz turned to return to Nino, when he paused. He turned, and his deep green eyes met her pretty blue eyes. She waved. He beamed, and waved back.  
Pretty soon he would know where all the kwamis were, and that they were safe. That's all he wanted.  
This was one step closer to that.

Chloe glanced over at Nathanael. He was still sketching, and he had been all lesson. She leaned over curiously.

"What are you doodling now?" She asked.

Nathanael covered his work with his arm defensively. "I'm not doodling! I'm sketching."

"What are you sketching now?" She repeated, pointedly.

"Lunch. I'm starving," he complained.

"Oh."

Pollen rolled her eyes as Chloe let the conversation die there. Pollen put on her best impression of Chloe, which, despite not having known her long, was impressively similar.

"Do you want me to pick you up something when I go out, or do you have food on you?"

Chloe's eyes widened, and she shot an evil look at Pollen. Nathanael turned pink and bowed his head low.

"Rose always brings snacks, so I'll probably sit with her and the girls and watch them do each other's hair during lunch," he muttered.

"Right..." Chloe muttered. Pollen gestured for her to keep going, so she cleared her throat. "You do have food though?"

"Um..."

"You have money to get food then?"

"Um..."

"Jeez Nathanael, what are you trying to do, starve yourself?!"

Nathanael bowed his head. He never expected Chloe of all people to care. Especially about him.

"I told you, Rose will have snacks! she's nice like that," he insisted.

"So you don't want me to pick you up any food?"

"No thank you."

"See you later then."

With a huff, Chloe snatched up her bag and left the classroom to get lunch. Pollen heaved a great sigh as she was knocked back deeper into the bag.

"That could have gone better."

To make up for the extra sharpness she used on Nathanael, she left a tip in the coffee shop tip jar. She brought an extra coffee, sweet and caramel with just a little cream. Back when the latest videogame craze hit, Nino was up all night playing and he needed caffeine boosts to get him through the day. Chloe heard him order so many times she remembered it by heart. She stopped at the door of the hotel to give the doorman a coffee too. He was surprised, but grateful. It was freezing out here after all.

"You're doing so well Chloe!" Pollen beamed, "keep this up and you'll be Queen Bee in no time."

Chloe thrust the coffee towards Nino, briskly, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"Here. They gave me the wrong order. Might as well give it to you rather than throw it away."

Uncertainly, Nino took it. "Um, thanks?" He sniffed it and took a small suspicious sip. His eyes widened. "This is my favourite!"

"Trust you to have bad taste," Chloe scoffed.

Nino wasn't falling for that for a minute. He didn't know why, but he knew she had brought this specifically. "Thanks Chloe."

She shrugged, casually. "Whatever."

She turned away and smiled to herself. Nino took another, longer sip. Alya raised an eyebrow pointedly at him. He bowed his head. Alya shifted her look to Marinette.

"Did you see that?" Alya asked.

"Yeah. She gave me her umbrella, and now she's giving Nino coffee? Something strange is going on here," Marinette agreed.

"Yeah, but what? Up for an investigation girl?" Alya grinned.

"I'll meet you on patrol tonight. Chloe wouldn't lie to Ladybug and Rena Rouge," Marinette nodded.

Nino raised an eyebrow at them. "What are you two up to?"

Alya raised a hand to her chest to play the innocent. "Us? Up to something? You're so suspicious Nino!"

She linked her arm through his and laughed, taking his coffee from him, and sipping it as if it was her own. She pulled a face.

"Ew!"

Nino laughed, "serves you right."

Wayzz glanced at Trixx and Tikki, suspiciously. They shared a nervous look. Trixx seemed a little less nervous, but still concerned. Tikki seemed very anxious. It didn't take Wayzz long to figure out what kind of thing was about to go down.  
He just hoped Pollen was up to it.


	7. Chapter 7

There was no interrogation of Chloe that night. Nino managed to draw their plans out of Alya and put an end to it.

"Maybe she just wants something, or maybe she's actually trying to redeem herself, either way she's not hurting anyone at the moment so don't go poking around and risk causing her to retaliate!"

Nino was a very good voice of reason when he wanted to be. It was deeply frustrating, but they had to accept that he was right. There was no two ways about it. They couldn't go poking around making trouble where there wasn't any. Which is why, when they returned home from patrol, exhausted, they went straight to sleep. Tikki was curled on Marinette's chest, listening to how she breathed, so Marinette slept in her back. Trixx was buried in a den she had formed in Alya's hair, so Alya had to sleep on her side. Wayzz slept in the speaker, wrapped in his own little blanket that Marinette had knitted for him, which meant Nino had the whole bed to sleep in, but still slept on his side to watch him. Plagg was the opposite. He was supposed to sleep in the corner of his bed, but he usually took up at least half the bed, and made Adrien sleep at an angle that made his hair messier, and woke up with Plagg on his face anyway. Chloe usually slept curled around Mr Cuddly. It sounded childish, but that's the way things go sometimes. Now she had Pollen, she was curled around Mr Cuddly, but her plush Ladybug was in the crook of her legs, so Pollen was always close, sleeping on top of it.  
That was useful when the akuma alert went off at two in the morning, waking all of them (apart from Trixx who had been busy plotting new prank ideas) because it meant they all had their kwamis close enough to transform over their pyjamas.

Chloe sat up and gazed out of her bedroom window. She sighed, dreamily. "I'll bee out there too one day."

Even though she knew it was probably too early, Pollen couldn't resist the idea of going out there and being with the other kwamis.

"There's no harm in introducing yourself," Pollen said.

Chloe gasped. "Really?!"

"But you _cannot_ let them know who you really are!"

"I won't, I promise! Oh my god this is so totally awesome!"

Pollen talked her through the rules, and then how to transform, and suddenly Queen Bee stood in her bedroom, with glistening golden wings down her back and yellow outfit that allowed her to hover excitedly in place. That lasted about two seconds before she shot out of the window, swooping through the air, and made a bee line for the others.  
The others were gathering on a single rooftop, with messy hair, bleary eyes and bad attitudes. Ladybug in particular was not happy to be conscious. This was not helped by sleepy Chat Noir still looking devilishly handsome.

"How you doing Bugaboo?" He purred.

"It's two in the morning!" She snarled.

"I know, I was deep in a catnap."

"I was getting my beauty sleep."

"You always look beautiful princess!"

" _shut up_!"

Chat Noir reeled back at the viciousness. Usually she was soft and light and cute when she was tired. But waking up in the arms of the love of your life at ten in the morning on a day with no school, is vastly different to waking up to a blearing siren dragging her into the cold at two in the morning. Rena wolf whistled when she saw that look in Ladybugs eye. You know the one. The "its Monday I just woke up and if I don't get coffee soon the first person to smile will deeply regret it" look. She assumed that, given it was a school day and they were due to go in five hours, it wasn't the last time she was going to see that look.

"Wow you look super cranky. Let's get this over with quick so you can sleep!" She said.

That sounded like heaven to Ladybug. "Thank you Rena, what would I do without you?"

"No worries girl, I've got your back," Rena winked.

Chat turned to look at Carapace who was just landing. Carapace saluted him with two fingers.

"What's new?" He asked.

"Girls are confusing," Chat said.

"I said new," Carapace said.

"This is new to me!"

"I've learned you've just gotta go with the flow."

The girls, eager to get back to bed before it got cold, left the roof top to head towards the fire. Rena was going to flood the area with illusions of Ladybug, so the akuma was so busy fighting the illusions they didn't notice the real Ladybug sneaking up behind them. Chat Noir followed them to the new vantage point.

"What a cat-astrophic fire!" He grinned.

Ladybug snarled, too tired for his attitude, "ONE MORE PUN AND I SWEAR TO GOD I'M BREAKING UP WITH YOU HEAR AND NOW!"

"I would purr-fur if we didn't," he called her bluff.

Ladybug looked him dead in the eyes and said, with a completely serious tone, "You have picked the worst way to cataclysm our relationship. Congratulations we're no longer dating. I'm single again. Rena, do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Sorry buggy I'm taken," Rena winked.

"Shame. We could have been happy," Ladybug sighed dramatically.

"Too happy. The world would have been so jealous," Rena agreed.

"Ah well, a singles life for me then. Rena are you ready?" Ladybug called.

Waves of identical Ladybugs appeared like an army around her. Every single one was flawlessly identical. Until you touched them and they vanished that is. But for now, Ladybug was standing like a squadron leader, before her army of herself.

"Maybe not so single," Carapace smirked.

"Well if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," she retorted.

Carapace watched the girls from their rooftop view. Together they seemed to get a handle on this akuma far faster than they usually did. When you're that tired and it's the one thing keeping you from sleeping, you'll pretty much do anything to beat it. No matter how groggy you are.

"Look at Rena go! She's really getting good at that flute," Chat whistled.

"What about Ladybug? Which one even is she?!" Carapace laughed.

Chat licked his lip thoughtfully, and pointed. "That one."

"You're sure?" Carapace challenged.

"I know my Bugaboo. That one's her," Chat nodded firmly.

Hovering with her toes brushing against the ground, Queen Bee smiled. "Very impressive."

The boys leapt up like they had been electric shocked, and were ready to figure.

"Who are you?" Carapace demanded.

"Queen Bee, at your service," She bowed, and grinned.

Carapace and Chat Noir shared an uncertain look. They eased out of their fighting stances, but held their weapons steady, just in case.

"Queen Bee?" Carapace repeated, suspiciously.

"That's my name," she nodded

"What are you doing here your highness?" He asked.

"I came to say hi, and see what you could do. My kwami and I are on a side mission right now, but pretty soon we'll be able to help you fight akumas too," she beamed.

"Interesting," he grinned at Chat, suddenly eased by the mention of a kwami. "This little group just keeps growing doesn't it?"

"It's five now isn't it? It's that usually how big hero teams are?" Bee asked, uncertainly.

"Roughly yes," Carapace nodded.

Bee glanced at Chat Noir, whose face was screwed up with such determined focused thought that Carapace had never seen before.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"He's almost definitely trying to figure out a pun to welcome you with," Carapace said.

"Oh. I was going to go with hive," she admitted

Carapace tilted his head. "Hive?"

"Yeah, instead of hi," she shrugged.

"Oh! Clever. Don't worry, you'll get sick of puns pretty soon," he chuckled.

Chat Noir lit up, suddenly bursting into life with a cracking, "You'd better beelieve it!"

"Hello he's back," Carapace chuckled.

"Hive! I'm Chat Noir, rouge, handsome, wonderful boyfriend of miraculous and intelligent and amazing Ladybug!"

Chat pointed down at the red blur battling an akuma almost single handily, so she could go back to bed. Queen Bee felt her hopes and heart rise. Her hero...

"And I'm Carapace, and that is Rena Rouge," he pointed at Rena.

Rena Rouge was standing on a raised platform, playing her fiddle to make a blur of Ladybugs to protect the real one. Queen Bee felt a swell of pride.

"Yes, I know Rena Rouge. She's amazing," she said.

"Some might say miraculous," Chat purred.

Bee turned to Carapace and gestured to Chat. "Does he do that often?"

"What? The puns? Yeah, sorry. You'll soon learn to turn it out," Carapace promised.

Bee groaned. "Oh brilliant."

"Bee-illant!" Chat chimed in.

Carapace pointed down at Rena and Ladybug as the bright waves of light wrapped around the room.

"Chat, Ladybug caught the akuma. She's leaving."

Chat clutched his chest dramatically, "Without saying goodbye?!"

"Or hello," Bee mumbled.

"That stings," Carapace beamed.

Bee stared at him, in horror, "You too?!"

He gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

Chat threw an arm around Bee's shoulders, "you'll be making them too soon. They come buzzing in, and you have to let them fly!"

"I take it back, I no longer want the job," She smiled.

Carapace and Chat Noir laughed together, and agreed that she was definitely going to fit in. If only it had been that simple...

...

Alya rested her head on her arm, and looked over at Marinette, still tired from last night. A strange thought entered her mind, and she felt the need to share it.

"I know Plagg and Tikki and in love yeah, but if Trixx and Tikki got together we could call them Trixxi."

Marinette gave a confused, amused smirk, and turned slowly so Alya could see it. "You have too much time on your hands girl."

Alya started laughing first, but she always made Marinette laugh too. Her joy was infectious. Then again, the way Marinette smiled was also infectious. It caused Adrien to smile a silly love struck smile every time he saw it. He didn't alert them to his presence by calling to them like he normally did. Instead, Adrien wrapped his arms around Marinette from behind. She yelped in alarm, but when he rested his chin on her head she knew exactly who it was. Only Chat Noir rested his head on her like that. She looked up to smile at him, affectionately, so he kissed her forehead now he could reach it.

"Hey princess, feeling better?" He purred.

"It's magic what sleep can do," she said.

"Magic or miraculous?" He smiled.

She groaned but laughed anyway and he nuzzled against her neck like some kind of vampire. Nino groaned in mock disgust as he took his seat beside Alya.

"Can't you just sit down like normal people?" He said, sarcastically.

"Why don't you ever kiss me like that?" Alya demanded.

"See?! Sit down, you're making me look bad!" Nino insisted.

Marinette and Adrien laughed, but Adrien took his point and sat down properly. Nino gave a firm nod, pleased. Under the table, Marinette and Adrien still held hands.

"You two ok after last night? You were awesome, you must be exhausted," Nino said.

"I'm always exhausted. Trixx doesn't help, she's up half the night, and keeps me up too," Alya complained.

"I _tried_ to tell you to go to bed, you're the one who had to finish what's on your blog!" Trixx argued.

"It's important to the fans!" Alya argued.

"If you'd stuck around you could have written about Queen Bee," Adrien said.

"What?" Alya frowned.

"You missed Queen Bee," Nino translated.

Alya and Marinette shared a confused and suspicious look between themselves, and then looked back at the boys.

"Um, ok?"

"She's says she's a new hero. Says she has a kwami and everything," Adrien explained.

"A new hero?" Alya sounded outraged, "What's wrong with just us four?"

Nino laughed and hooked an arm around her. "Aw come on Alya, it's just one more."

"And she's a bee? So we've got two bugs to bug us?" Alya huffed.

"Hey!" Marinette laughed.

"Not that _you_ bug me or anything, but seriously?" Alya scowled, " _Queen_ Bee? What's makes her so great she gets a crown?!"

"Are you worried the bugs will bugger off?" Adrien grinned.

Nino groaned heavily. "That was bad, dude, even for you!"

Adrien gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

Marinette rolled her eyes at Adrien but smiled. He was more comfortable in himself now that he was making bad puns at school as well as in battle. That was enough to make her accept his puns, as Marinette and Ladybug. Right now, though, her focus was on Alya.

"I get it. I was hesitant at the idea of you becoming Rena Rouge. It's not like the fox hasn't be tricky before, but come on. Queen Bee? How bad could she possibly be?" She asked.

"She said she and her kwami are on a side mission that she has to complete before she comes works with us. That'll give you time to get used to the idea," Adrien said.

Alya scoffed and grumbled, "Yeah because royalty get their own akumas!"

Nino pulled her a little closer, affectionate, if a little scared of her, "Let's leave the green eyes to Adrien, hey? They suit him better."

She pulled away and gave him a scathing look. "Are you saying I don't look good with green eyes?"

Despite the fear in the pit of his stomach, he forced himself to smile flirtatious.

"I'm saying your eyes are more beautiful now than they ever could be, so don't be so jealous."

"Aww you're so full of crap," she cooed.

"Do you want me to stop?" He flirted.

She nestled back into his chest, "no. Never."

Tikki leaned against Plagg and cooed like a love-struck teenager. Plagg wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her affectionately. Adrien and Marinette looked deeply into each other's eyes. Wayzz chuckled as Trixx gagged. The table burst into laughter.  
From the other side of the room, Chloe looked over towards them. It had been nice to sit with them before, but it was a one-time thing. Marinette would tolerate her long enough to please Adrien, but there was too much history there. History that she didn't want Adrien to know. It would destroy the way he saw her. First, she had to learn how to be better, then she could start to make it up to Marinette. But one day. One day, she'd be at that table, and she'd be in on the joke.  
She just had to beelieve.  
Oh hell now _she_ was making puns too.  
This hero stuff had better be worth it.


End file.
